This Sunday is the last Flora London Marathon, and it still isn’t entirely obvious to me why Unilever took the decision last year to pull the plug on its 14 year relationship.

I’ve always believed in the value of sponsoring mass participation sports events, and it seems so to does Richard Branson whose Virgin Money brand takes over the title sponsorship from 2010.

Where to start? A database of over 34,000 runners isn’t bad. And the kinds of people London marathon sponsor reach – doers rather than couch-potatoes - is another benefit. Then, of course, are their friends and families.

Runners don’t just turn up on the day with their loved ones as they would for a concert. Rather they are all involved throughout the training process – whether it be through enquiring how its going, joining the runner on a training run or simply through sponsoring them.

The events, and similar ones like the London Triathlon, are healthy and carry little risk of scandal. When was the last time a marathon runner was caught taking drugs? And even if they did, who would really care? After all for most people the race is about Joe Public getting on with it rather than the thoroughbreds at the front.

Then there’s the emotional engagement. It’s easy to get gushy when talking about marathons and what they mean to people, so I won’t bang on. Needless to say the event is emotionally charged and for many people there on the day it is there first and last attempt at a marathon so something they are unlikely to forget in a hurry.

If you’re still not convinced about the merits of marathon running and why it should make sense to a lot of brands to get involved with then check out www.memory-joggers.co.uk, set up by Flora for runners to share their marathon stories, photos and memories over the years.

To me the only surprise is that there aren’t more brands aren't involved with one of the world’s greatest sporting events.

Good luck to everyone doing this year’s London Marathon.