London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Relay round Ilford
Extraordinary shorts and exhausted runners feature in this short newsreel showing highlights of a 40-mile relay race round Ilford.
From the collection of:
Overview
The annual round-the-houses 40-mile relay race featured several of London’s leading athletic clubs and was on this occasion won by Belgrave Harriers in a record time of 3 hours 15 minutes 51 seconds. We see the runners set off from an Ilford side street, and then there are several shots of them running through the town, often surrounded by buzzing cyclists. The crowd shout encouragement, the runners look exhausted and the winners show off some impressive shorts.