If Paula Radcliffe fulfils the dream of ending her marathon career in triumph at the 2012 Olympics, it will be against a backdrop of London's iconic landmarks.
She would start and finish in The Mall, passing Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Cleopatra' s Needle on the Embankment and St Paul's Cathedral.
Only the final few kilometres will be on a similar route to the annual London Marathon, where Radcliffe set her existing world record in 2003.
Instead of the annual A to B course, from Greenwich to The Mall, the Olympic race will take in 11 kilometre loops so runners pass the landmarks several times.
It is only the second time in Games history that the marathon has not ended in an Olympic stadium. The last was 1960 in Rome when a barefoot Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, won under starlight at a finish at the Arch of Constantine in the city's centre.
The full details of the course will be announced in two weeks after it has been signed off by the International Olympic Committee and the mayor's office, but the London Marathon organisers, who have planned and measured it, have aimed its appeal at the global TV audience.
Their only disappointment was that the start could not be at Tower Bridge, an iconic sight on their annual race. It proved impossible to build the necessary ancillary facilities in that area, and is a lot less expensive to have start and finish in one place.
The marathon races will be on the second and third Sundays of the Games, with the strong likelihood that the women's race, in which Britain will have hopes for Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi, will be the final athletic event before the closing ceremony.
The Queen will not have to leave home to have a splendid vantage point as a spectator on at least six of the 16 days.
The organisation committee for the Games said yesterday the cycle leg of the men's and women's triathlon in Hyde Park will pass Buckingham Palace and go around the Victoria Memorial four times.
The road cycle races will pass The Queen's London home twice after they start and finish in The Mall.
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