2001 Grand National interviews with connections of the runners, and celebrity spectators, as well as nostalgic segments from the history of the race, while Angus Loughran provided regular updates on the betting market. In addition to the race itself the programme also broadcast live coverage of three other races on the Aintree card — the Cordon Bleu Handicap Hurdle, the Martell Maghull Novices Steeplechase and the Martell Aintree Hurdle, none of which were run over the Grand National course. The commentator for these races was Jim McGrath, who also called home the winner of the National where he was joined by a commentary
Grand National are jumped twice. Horses completing the race cover a distance of , the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. As part of a review of safety following the 2012 running of the event, from 2013 to 2015 the start was moved forward away from the crowds and grandstands, reducing the race distance by from the historical . The course has one of the longest run-ins from the final fence of any steeplechase, at . The Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on