Cost to sign up to London Marathon 2013

cougie wrote (see)

Doesnt the bequeathment thing give you a fleece/jacket/watch or whatever if you dont get in ? Expensive way to shop mind you.

Kryten wrote (see)

You also have to consider the money you will save. Friday night out on the town = drinks £40, kebab £5, taxi home £15 = £60. Every Friday for three months comes to £780!

Excellent accounting. 

Then add on the £50 -100 you can get from flogging your medal on ebay afterwards, you're quids in really.

GOOD LUCK!

Haven just done the marathon on sunday, i say go for it!  I have watched nearly each and every one, whether on tv or outside my flat (when i lived in the docklands) and always aspired to do it.  It was great. (if you ignore the pain!).  I would love to do it again, and be slightly less delirious so that I could soak up the amazing atmosphere all the way around.  There is nothing like doing a race where you have so much support for the public.

I've entered the ballot twice, and not got a place (got a fleece that was so cheap and made of hideous material I couldn't even touch it - yuck!) I got my place through a charity and needed to raise £1700.

I'd say start running outside now, whether or not you get in.  If you leave it until October, when you will find out if you got a place or not, you will find the marathon harder.

I entered for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. All of these years I bequeathed and didn't get in. For this year I didn't bequeath and got in. As Screamapillar says, I felt that they needed to let me in if they wanted to get any more money out of me.

The way I now see it is if I enter and bequeath, and my friend enters but doesn't bequeath, if VLM give my friend the place, they're getting my money AND my friend's money, so they're getting double. If they let me in and not my friend, they'd only get half.

I am trying to enter through my GFA time, however nowhere on the VLM site does it mention the race fee.  Is it free or is it like expensive jewelry, if you have to ask the price your probably can't afford it......

SR - They don't appear to be forthcoming on cost do they. GFA gets you a guaranteed entry but you still have to pay for it, which will likely be 30-odd quid.  Presumably you'd find out when they send you the GFA entry form.

Having recently achieved a HM qualifying time for a Championship entry, I've just consulted the site and apparently need to check back at the end of May for more details.  My toes are positively tingling with anticipation. 

Dont forget that a percentage of the entry fee goes towards providing soundproof tents so the elite runners can have a nap before the race. All the while their running shoes are hand made on the spot by Spanish cobblers flown in for the day.

Only one of these "facts" is partially true.

From what I remember the GFA entry fee is exactly the same as ballot entry.

I entered the ballot and bequeathed my fee and they took the £28 straight away.

Im determined to do it thougheven if I dont get a ballot place so does anyone have any advice about which charities are best to get involved in ?

I dont want the added stress of worrying about not reaching an unrealistic target of fundraising !

Thanks Sarah yes the lower fee was because of club membership however they didnt ask for any proof of that.   Nothing against making the effort for charity but I want to focus on training for my first marathon not be distracted by worry about having to pay the shortfall because I couldnt raise enough - it seems there isint a week goes by these days without someone sending me the link to their justgiving page - I dont know that my circle of friends and colleagues have much left for my marathon !  Also I would be worried about using justgiving and having them take the cash out of peoples accounts straight away leaving me under big pressure to complete the run - I thought the whole idea of 'sponsorship' was you didnt pay over the cash until the person had achieved what they set out for (ok best get off my soap box now !)

It is a dilemma I face. I never have taken a charity place.

I can't afford to pay a premium for the entry and commit to raising a lot of money (I don't have many or wealthy friends).

It would be good to understand how much charity places cost a charity and therefore why they expect an upfront fee of in some cases £100 (more than the ballot entry).

If I get a ballot place I will choose a charity and raise what I can.

I have entered 2014 and have donated my entry fee.

Hey Ho

Please can someone tutor me on the charity thing for VLM.

I've missed the ballot - not fussed. Never been successful.

Q: Difference between gold and silver bond places?

Q: What is the "typical" amount you are required to raise for a charity?

I'd like to run London, but it's not enough of a challenge to ask friends and family to donate so I'd have to stump up the charity donation myself.

Typical amount ?

Anywhere between a grand and 2 grand

iain toolin wrote (see)

It would be good to understand how much charity places cost a charity and therefore why they expect an upfront fee of in some cases £100 (more than the ballot entry).

 

 

This link will tell you. To summarise, each Golden Bond costs a charity £1500 to buy, and they get 5 places for that money, so £300 for each place. They then need to raise enough money to cover this and all costs, and make a profit for the charity, to make it worth their while. Some of the bigger charities will hold more than one Golden Bond, so will have 10, 15, 20, entries each year, and so on.