London Marathon Ballot system is a joke.

Dave The Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

And even Rod is happy now cos he's going to spend 5 hours running with Z list celebs and rhinos !

You've got to love Rods attitude though 'Oh I hate the London marathon, lets leave it it to all the celeb Z listers ....... Oh I got in! Oh its OK now ......'

LOL .... bless.

Mr Puffy wrote (see)

David I really hope you get to run it, you obviously want to, but year after year I see these sour grapes threads and the irony is breathtaking.

Disappointed ballot entrants who think they know all about the race and what it's "supposed" to be, blaming charity runners, celebrities, anything, as if it was any of their business how the organisers of the marathon choose to organise the race.

I really don't care whether the London marathon is a charity or not, I hope Dave Bedford, nick bitel and co have got very rich on the back of what they have achieved. In the same race they field the worlds greatest athletes, the cream of this country's club runners, a good selection of good for age athletes, and a number of runners from every eligible club in the country.

They also give charities the opportunity to raise millions, and then if you don't fit into any of those categories you have as good a chance as anyone else in the ballot.

agree .they have something for everyone which is why they also get such good tv coverage and crowd support.and the only marathon where i have been able to stop at mile 17 for a pint and some food

Mr Puffy, if it helps Im seeing the error of my ways ......... if the whole intention of the race was it was about charity, then that makes 'me' the gatecrasher for wanting to do it without raising money for charity.

Anyway Karma will probably comeback and bite me on the .... when a doctor tells me Ive got some uncureable disease and I go to a charity to get help for it and they say 'arent you the same David Falconer who didnt want to help us out in the London marathon?'

Mr Puffy wrote (see)

A Z lister is just a celebrity that runs slower than you!

I thought he was referring to Alex Zane.

VLM next year will be my 9th mara but 1st at London having got a ballot place(must be lucky just second attempt, either that or they felt sorry for me could n't quite manage GFA) .  I have n't considered running for charity before as I did n't want to be constantly asking for donations and the hassle that goes with it, but I am going to run for charity this time as  it will give people the opportunity to donate to a good cause, and I think "will you donate I am running London " will get more response than "will you donate I am running Abingdon".

Dave The Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

Who is Alex Zane ? 

Here are some other Z-Listers for you:

Necar Zadegan
Steve Zahn
Billy Zane
Nick Zano
Natalie Zea
Kevin Zegers
Renee Zellweger
Robert Zemeckis
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Nikki Ziering
Madeline Zima
Constance Zimmer
Zhang Ziyi
Rob Zombie
Josh Zuckerman
Ayelet Zurer

And no, I don't know who most of them are either.

Mr Boat wrote (see)

I seem to remember them making the raising the GFA from 3hrs to 3:10 a couple of years ago for under 40s

They did - just BEFORE I nearly killed myself to go sub 3 at a truly horrible Luton in 2009 without realising it'd changed !  

I only did London because, as others have said, to most people there is only "The Marathon" and it wouldn't matter how fast you ran any other race, people only appreciate you as a runner when you tell them you ran London (not that we should worry what anyone else thinks, but it just makes certain conversations easier )

For what it's worth, I got a London place on my own efforts, but I also ran for charity that year as it seemed to good an opportunity to miss - one of only two races I have. To my mind, London fills all the criteria Brasher set out to do, but it is what it is.

There is only one London, but there are plenty of other marathons if you want to run one!

I beat Nell when I did it, but she came back and whooped my time the following year!

Barry B wrote (see)

VLM next year will be my 9th mara but 1st at London having got a ballot place(must be lucky just second attempt, either that or they felt sorry for me could n't quite manage GFA) .  I have n't considered running for charity before as I did n't want to be constantly asking for donations and the hassle that goes with it, but I am going to run for charity this time as  it will give people the opportunity to donate to a good cause, and I think "will you donate I am running London " will get more response than "will you donate I am running Abingdon".

Not necessarily so. Of the two races I've raised money for, London only pipped Abingdon by about £50 !

" I think "will you donate I am running London " will get more response than "will you donate I am running Abingdon".

Personally you should get more money if you tell them something like 'Im running the 'Slough trading estates Marathon' than the nice scenic London one ........

If somebody asks me for sponsorship money because they are running a marathon (or going to Everest, or whatever), they are likely to get a polite refusal.... unless I really believe that they are doing it to raise funds for a cause they strongly believe in.  In the latter case, they could be doing a sponsored nose-picking for all I care - I will support them.  In the former case, I have no desire to sponsor their hobby.

"And these sponsor me to cycle across Cuba or walk the Great Wall of China just seems like a glorified holiday "

Yup exactly .......

I've run VLM once, glad to say I've done it (for charity). Dont need to do it again, I've run 7 marathons now, and will be doing brighton for the second time in spring. I loved bighton so much more than london.

Agree with all posts though, ballot system needs an overhaul, but wouldnt like to begin with what they should do????

All the money they make out of the V.L.M. its about time they updated the goodie bag,. for a complete shower. A kilo of pila rice inside was a joke, why dont they put somthing  which my come in handy after running 26 miles, like lucozade, mars bars, even one of the horses of the household cavalry didnt want my apple