Blog: Ralph Morton

…well, not so much walks it, but runs it. I have a lot of admiration for those who run the marathon and this year in particular as I had a personal interest.

My sister Joanna had run the Brighton Marathon the week before the London version – I’m very proud of her – and then in London I had several people to follow, including a friend Tim, who was fund-raising for the charity William’s Syndrome Music Camp, and my brother-in-law Nick (running for Heart UK).

But now that respect extends further. I was in BMW’s diplomatic sales dealership in upmarket Victoria in London for the launch of BMW’s London 2012 Olympic fleet news – see the story BMW residual values to withstand impact of London 2012 fleet partnership.

Following the presentation I was chatting over coffee to Steve Chater, BMW’s corporate operations manager, when he casually dropped into the conversation that he had run the London Marathon just days earlier – in four hours.

“I ran to fundraise for the Children’s Trust,” said Steve modestly about his achievement – four hours is a decent time, especially for someone who has a heavy work schedule.

“There were quite a few of us doing it from BMW, but I didn’t get much time during the week to train. So it was down to some long runs at the weekend. I’d never even run a half-marathon before.” That time looks even more impressive.

Olympics, marathon running (on a personal level) – now what next for BMW’s sporting aspirations?

A sport up my street actually. As readers of this blog probably know, ad nauseum no doubt, is that I’m a Harlequins season ticket holder.

Anyway, the business car news is that BMW is to become the official vehicle partner for the Rugby Football Union from September for a four-year period. Bye-bye Land Rover, hello BMW.

So, when England and Harlequins captain  Chris Robshaw lifts the Webb Ellis cup in the Rugby World Cup in 2015 at Twickenham HQ – of this I am convinced – the team will have got there under BMW power. No doubt with a touch of Efficient Dynamics.