At the risk of being uncharitable, why so many running spots given to charity?

David Falconer 3 wrote (see)

Blanket rule for the London Marathon next year. If you walk at any time, you get kicked out there and then ......... sounds fair .......

assuming you can get in cos the charity runners have taken all the places?. . .

Seems fine to me David. That might mean 99 per cent of em if you count water stops...

Maybe there should be a speed limit - if you go below it, you're out.

Just to be picky

David Falconer 3 wrote (see)

Actually Phil, as I dont have the ability to interview everyone, so youre asking for evidence you know I can't produce. (a bit like saying 'Well you cant prove there is alien lifeform out in outer space, therefore it can't possibly exist' - ie not being able to prove the negative, doesn't necessarily prove the positive).

That's rubbish.The premise that charity runners don't train as much as ballot runners is provable, you could have evidence. You don't personally need to interview everyone, but one of the charities (or sponsors, university, london marathon ltd. etc)  could survey their runners and ballot runners and study the training of the two groups. Your statement is just a bias assumption. It's just as bad as saying aliens do exist but you don't have any proof. Do you?!

As as to the unsavoury profits, as it has been pointed out about a million times*, all London marathon Ltd. profits go to charity

*I have no proof that it has been pointed out a million times.

 If you really want to improve the London marathon you should get rid of this silly elite bias. Completely level out the playing field and give every one a chance to cross the finish line first. Costume runners at 9am, everyone else according to their predicted finishing time (slowest 1st) and then elite around about 1pm.

Imagine the finishing scene as a fat middle age man dressed as a smurf pushes past some skinny kenyan to win the London Marathon. Golden TV, the viewing figures will go through the roof

Even better, put everyone in the country into the ballot and those who get into the event have to run it, on pain of five years in jail if they don't. It might end the obesity problem.

What if they kept all the charity money they raised and spent it on pies....

ok lets approach this from a different angle. You know how you can buy tickets to a music concert, but then realise you cant go so you put them up on Seatwave or wherever, is there any equivalent for the London Marathon so that all those clever clogs who went 'Oh yeah, I'll do it ....' and get their place, but then realise a month out that they've done no preparation and don't want to go, they can give up their tickets to someone who wants them (or sell them to the highest bidder, ebay style).

Incidentally does anyone know the percentages of no-shows for the London Marathon?

Sales of London Marathon places are banned.  If you put one on eBay it will get taken down.  If you sell it privately, the buyer has to run under your name, and if you get found out you and the buyer will be banned (which you may well not care about).

There is no mechanism for swapping - but if you do realise that you're not able to run you can defer your place for a year.

I have no idea what percentage of no-shows there are at London, but in most races it's about 15-20%, and the organisers allow for this in the number of places sold.

To my knowledge, Brighton was not over-subscribed.  The normal entries had a closing date (end of May, or thereabouts?) and any unsold places went to the charities.

Part of the VLM application process should be to submit an essay on why you deserve a place more than anybody else.  It might cut down on the annual whining on RW.

Nobody in particular David 

I derive a guilty pleasure from reading these threads.  And should VLM take up my suggestion, I'd probably volunteer to read through the applications for a laugh.

Maybe they could introduce a "Bad For Age criterion"  Have a cut off time, based on age, sex, height, weight, disability...

... a grenade could be attached to your bib - with a digital countdown timer clearly visible to the crowd. There should be no way of stopping the timer apart passing through the chip timer at the finish.

This would ensure that people train hard, and have the added benefit of seeing TV viewing figures go through the roof.

Not a bad idea Wales but you're not suppose to try anything new on race day so you would have to get everyone to do a few training runs wearing the grenade too. Just to make it fair you understand, so they don't get any unexpected grenade chafing on the big day.

I found this. I didn't realise there were marathons other than VLM.  Are they all the same distance?

Run Wales, and Chimpster, if you're concerned about Grenade chafing I would recommend the green tub vaseline with Aloe Vera, I find this is suitable for most occasions

Mr Puffy wrote (see)

David Ive run at London with a golden bond place twice, twice with a club place and once with a ballot place, I trained as hard as I could each time, does that count as evidence?

Mrs P has run London several times too, the last time she was raising money for Much needed improvements to the oncology ward where she was treated, raising a sum in the high four figures that was actually 1% of the total cost and means that if you're having chemo on that ward you'll be a lot more comfortable than you would have been without her efforts.

She trained after a debilitating illness and gruelling chemotherapy, far harder than I have ever trained, in fact I've yet to meet a runner who put more into their training than she did for that race.

So, if we get in the way of the real runners, err..tough.

Great, just as I was beginning to feel not so guilty, in comes Mr Puffy to stick the knife back into me ..... Im surprised you didnt put up pictures of children in hospital beds and say 'Are these less important than your stupid run?'

Ive already apologized. I already feel like I snatch ice creams out of childrens hands or hang around shopping centers harrassing old ladies. I feel bad enough as it is ..... what more do you want???