Lukas Bates, a marathon participant failed to achieve his desired result in Saturday's London Marathon as the almost five-feet tall Big Ben costume he was wearing during the race got stuck in the overhead scoreboard at the finish line. The runner made several attempts to disentangle himself but failed until he was helped by a race steward. As a result of the entanglement, Bates, of the Paddock Wood Athletic Club in southeastern England, finished the race in 3 hours, 54 minutes and 21 seconds. The result was 20 seconds slower than the record set by a runner in last year's Berlin Marathon who was dressed as the Holstentor gate in Germany.
Big Ben is a name that refers to the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. However, most people commonly use the nickname to refer to the clock and the tower itself.
The Virgin Mary London Marathon is a long-distance running competition held in London as part of the World Marathon Majors. It was first held on 29 March 1981 and has been held every spring since then.