Jelle's Marble Runs
Jelle's Marble Runs is a YouTube channel based in the Netherlands, run by Jelle and Dion Bakker. It is based around marbles, marble runs, and marble races. Content on the channel includes spoofing the Olympic Games, Formula One, and other sporting events. Additionally, they create stand-alone competitions around holidays, with the marble names in the style of the holiday. These videos treat the cast of marbles as though they were athletes. Acting as though the inanimate marbles use actual tactics, training, and psychology to compete, fans participate in an elaborate kayfabe to create engaging marble sports.
The Marble League, portrayed as the "Games", has a choreographed Opening and Closing Ceremony, often created using stop motion. Many of the sports are designed to resemble Olympic sports. Each year, the channel uploads a new series of the Marble League, with different events and teams each year, which are introduced in the Qualifying round. As of 24 July 2020, the current channel has over 1.2 million subscribers with more than 90.7 million views, a number that has steadily increased, likely as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Overview
Jelle's Marble Runs has built a following personifying marbles throughout a variety of competitions. Each video is produced in the form of a sporting event with commentary provided by Greg Woods. The channel features annual series such as the Marble League, the Marble Rally, Marbula One, and the Hubelino Tournament. Additionally, Jelle produces seasonal Halloween and Christmas content, as well as one-off events such as the A-Maze-ing Maze Race. Interspersed between the competition videos, Jelle releases a wide variety of marble runs without commentary exhibiting his marble course constructions.History
Jelle Bakker was born in 1983 in Wervershoof, Netherlands. He has stated that he has a form of autism, and said that because he has no occupation, making marble machines was one of his biggest hobbies. He currently lives in Nijmegen.In 2006, Bakker created the first version of the Jelle's Marble Runs YouTube channel. He received the Guinness World Record for the world's longest marble run on May 21, 2009, a record that he held until 2011. Greg Woods, an early fan of the channel, produced a commentary on his own for one of the marble race videos. Bakker liked the video so much that he ended up partnering with Woods, who became the English-language commentator for the entire series.
The channel soon started gaining attention and a fanbase in 2015, and started the MarbleLympics in 2016 as a mock version of the Olympic games. Originally, Bakker planned to end the MarbleLympics series after the 2017 MarbleLympics. "The MarbleLympics will end in early August with an ending ceremony," he said in an interview by The Irish News, "but I will still continue in making great marbles-related videos." However, he continued the series due to popularity.
In late 2018, Bakker accidentally deleted his original channel of 620,000 subscribers while attempting to delete his Google+ account and was subsequently forced to relaunch. By March 2020 the channel had regained all subscribers and surpassed its former peak.
On May 17th, 2020, British-American comedian and late-night show host John Oliver announced on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that the show will be the head sponsor for the 2020 Marble League.
Popular series
Marble League
The Marble League is an annual series featuring marbles competing in Olympic-inspired events. At its inception in 2016, 16 teams were invited to compete in 12 events which included the 10 meter sprint, hurdles, and the long jump among others. Each team consisted of four marbles of matching colors and patterns. The champion of the Marble League is crowned based on the aggregate points in all events. Starting in 2017, the qualifiers were held in advance of each Marble League season with the top four teams from the previous year automatically qualifying for the subsequent season. Beginning in 2018, the Marble League featured a host team that took one of the four automatic qualification spots alongside the top three teams from the last year.The 2018 Marble League was the first and only winter edition featuring events such as speed skating, ice hockey, and snowboard cross. Other changes included the addition of a fifth team member. In 2019, the MarbleLympics changed its name to Marble League due to trademark issues, increased the number of events to 16, and added a coach marble for each team. The 2020 Marble League had faced cancellation due to lack of funding, but a fully paid sponsorship from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was announced on May 17, 2020 for all 16 events, with winnings going to charities, allowed for the 2020 league to continue as scheduled.
Marble League 2020
The 2020 Marble League, sponsored by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, was hosted by Team Galactic and began on 21 June 2020.| Date | No. | Event | Duration | Winner | Runner-Up | Third place |
| 1 | Balancing + Opening Ceremony | 10:43 | Minty Maniacs | Raspberry Racers | Midnight Wisps | |
| 2 | Halfpipe | 11:08 | O'rangers | Crazy Cats Eyes | Minty Maniacs | |
| 3 | Funnel Endurance | 9:55 | Minty Maniacs | O'rangers | Savage Speeders | |
| 4 | Newton's Cradle | 9:53 | O'rangers | Team Galactic | Raspberry Racers | |
| 5 | Long Jump | 7:23 | Crazy Cats Eyes | Balls of Chaos | Mellow Yellow | |
| 6 | 5 Meter Hurdles | 6:40 | Raspberry Racers | Midnight Wisps | Savage Speeders | |
| 7 | Block Pushing | 9:34 | Midnight Wisps | Team Momo | O'rangers | |
| 8 | Triathlon | 8:46 | Hazers | Team Momo | O'rangers | |
| 9 | Sand Mogul Race | 6:24 | Oceanics | Hazers | Minty Maniacs | |
| 10 | 5 Meter Sprint | 6:22 | Minty Maniacs | Oceanics | Savage Speeders |
Marble League Showdown
The Marble League Showdown was introduced in 2019 as the lower division series of games for teams who did not qualify for the year's Marble League championship games. The Showdown effectively serves as the preliminary round for the next year's Marble League championship games. Each year, top-ranked teams in the Showdown will be given a chance to compete in the next year's championship qualifiers.Marble Rally
The Marble Rally is a series of offroad marble races, where individual marbles race against each other down a sand or dirt course that has been constructed. The courses feature a variety of obstacles that will impede competing marbles on their way to the finish line. It is worth noting that marbles used for the Marble Rally are larger than marbles used for the Marble League, with a diameter of 25mm compared to the Marble League's 16mm marbles. The Marble Rally Showdown was introduced in 2018 as a series of races for marbles who did not qualify for the championship, giving those marbles a chance to qualify for the next year's championship.Marbula One
The first season of Marbula One premiered in early 2020. Marbles race multiple laps around a track with a conveyor belt returning them back to the top. As its name suggests, this series is directly inspired by the Formula One racing series. Sixteen teams from the Marble League were invited to compete in the first two seasons.Team Championships
Individual Championships
Marbula E
Marbula E is inspired by the Formula E racing championship and is sponsored by Envision Virgin Racing. It features marble teams named after real FE teams and racetracks closely based on real-life Grands Prix. The first episode premiered on 18 April 2020, consisting of a race in a recreation of the Paris Street Circuit, and is narrated by British professional Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls. After some negative feedback from marble racing fans, mainly over popular announcer Greg Woods’ absence, Woods joined Nicholls on commentary for the second race in a circuit based on the Seoul ePrix.Last Marble Standing
Last Marble Standing was announced on 21 May 2020 to celebrate the channel's 1,111,111 subscribers milestone. This tournament, sponsored by Arla UK's Cravendale, featured six brand new, dairy-themed teams, and included six endurance-based events.| Year | Started | Ended | Events | Champion | Runner-up | Third place |
| 2020 | 1 June 2020 | 20 June 2020 | 6 | Graze of Glory | Team Purity | Semi-Skimmers |