It is the sixth consecutive year that London Marathon entrants have broken the Guinness World Record for charity fund raising at a single annual event worldwide and brings the total raised for hundreds of charitable causes since the race began in 1981 to £610.7 million ($991.7 million/€758.1 million).

There were a record 36,705 London Marathon finishers on April 22, with 74 per cent of these runners raising money for good causes and bringing the total to 854,595 runners who have now completed the race, since it started 31 years ago.

"We are extremely pleased to announce another amazing record amount of money raised for charities by London Marathon runners," said Virgin London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher.

"This is an especially impressive total and the fact that this figure increased again for the sixth year in a row, despite the well-publicised economic woes, shows just how committed our runners are to raising funds for good causes".

Spectators cheer on charity runners during the 2012 Virgin London Marathon

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: "We are really pleased to confirm that we are well on the way to achieving the quarter of a billion pounds fundraising target that we set at the beginning of our sponsorship with the London Marathon".

The last five record years of charity fund-raising at the London Marathon have been in 2007 with £46.5 million ($75.4 million/€57.7 million); 2008 with £46.7 million ($75.8 million/€57.9 million); 2009 with £47.2 million ($76.6 million/€58.5 million); 2010 with £50.6 million (82.1 million/€62.8 million); 2011 with £51.8 million ($84.1 million/€64.2 million); and 2012 with £52.8 million ($85.7 million/€65.7 million).

The 2013 Virgin London Marathon is on Sunday, April 21, and the official charities will be Age UK and YouthNet – www.runforit.org.uk.

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