As thousands of athletes prepare to take part in this weekend’s much-anticipated London Marathon, they will all see the genius of two Swindon-based engineers.

Bob Bradley and David Speight of Scaled Ltd have spent months creating 51 mile markers for the event from recycled plastic, using their large-scale 3D printing facilities.

The project, which has been almost three years in the making, having been postponed for a year due to the Covid pandemic, led to 14 tonnes of plastic waste being recycled to create new mile markers for the Marathon – and much of that came from waste material from previous London Marathons. 

David Speight, co-founder of Scaled, explains how the project came about saying: "It was back in 2019 that we took a call from an architectural student about designs for a new mile marker for the London Marathon."

The student was part of a team that had entered a competition being run by the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust (now known as Blueprint For All) to redesign all the marathon mile markers. This followed the success of a previous competition to design mile marker 18. 

"In previous years, the mile markers used scaffolding with signage attached, however, these students wanted to explore a more eye-catching, yet sustainable design."

The team at Scaled took the student team’s concept to see if it could be done.

"Over time, the concept evolved and once our student partners were announced as the winning team, we bid for replacing all of the mile markers with the new design using entirely recycled plastic. 

“The journey has been interesting, we learned so much along the way and we’re so proud of how well the markers have turned out - showcasing our engineering  skills and the design of the winning students, especially Chantal Banker and Davina Lyn."

Each mile marker is made from a combination of 3D printed parts and recycled boards constructed into a distinctive hexagonal pattern. The student team took inspiration from the way in which runners of all abilities and demographics come together in a spirit of unity and togetherness – like bees gathering around the hive.

Alex Marshall, CEO of Scaled, said: "This has been a brilliant opportunity for us to take something from concept, through engineering design, to manufacturing the end product.

"We hope now to work with organisers of other large scale events, festivals, concerts and the like to support them with creating signs and other temporary structures which are far more impactful and, importantly, sustainable."