London Marathon Ballot system is a joke.

IMHO I think the worst thing they have done is do away with the guaranteed place after 4 rejections, I don't understand the logic behind that, unless they want people to give up trying, which doesn't make sense either :S

On a plus note, I've managed to get in through the ballot twice in two ballot entries, 2011 deferred to 2012, and then also accepted for 2013. 

Just train harder and get a GFA?! Ha ha!

Rod Wallace wrote (see)

Its the 20th century, all the checks could be done automatically by a software app.

Like someone said, its a fancy dress event, if they keep making it more and more difficult for club runners to enter then they'll stop trying and the race will be the big loser.

If it's such a non serious race, a "fancy dress event", why do you even want to be involved as a "club runner".

You have 2 good routes in. Sponsorship, which is a couple of grand, surely doable if you have an average circle of associates/friends/fellow runners etc, or like everyone has says, Good For Age.

Don't get Good for Age mixed up with a championship start. Isn't it 3:15 v 2:45?

One is definitely doable, and one takes talent and dedication.

Get out there and qualify.

As for your moan about celebs.

Have you ever thought that these celebs may just have more capability to attract sponsorship than yourself?

Totally agree with you! Its a waste of time. I  have entered twice and get the same response. I think charities get greedy too with the amount they set for you to raise. Its a money making exercise- the marathon. But it would be a race Id like to run.

I love how edinburgh just work on a fcfs basis...

I'm also sure that there is scope for more places to be made available for those with slightly faster times. There is a huge bulge of runners going through at 4:00-4:30 pace. If the roads can cope with them then, there is surely an opportunity to offer a few more places with those expecting to run around 3:30.

It makes me smile when I see people moan because they donated their entry fee if unsuccessful, and it was actually taken when they are unsuccessful.  I think they must have confused "donation" with "bribe".

Tenjiso, I'm not moaning that they take my entry fee when I have said that I'm happy to donate it, I moaning that they send out a top that is the wrong size from the one you specified. And lets not make any mistake, its not a free top, you dont get anything free from the LM, I have paid for that top  with my entry fee.

As for running a GFA time, trust me, I have been trying. I thought I was in with a good chance this year but injury again scuppered that. But I'll keep at it.

A charity place would be an option, but when you have raised money for charities before it is hard to go and ask the same people to dig deep again and again.

I have a chance through my running club, so fingers crossed there.

I just find the whole ballot thing has become a joke. VLM dont make as much money on ballot places, compared to the money they can make through charities.

People on here have talked about having a 1 in 5 chance of getting in through the ballot. Where to those figures come from?

The total of runners is what 35,000. Yet they allocation of guarenteed charity places is close to 20, 000.

There are about 1500 running clubs in the UK, all of which get 2/3 entries. So lets say that is 4000.

GFA runners make up another couple of thousand.

So now there are 120 000 people trying to get fewer than 9 thousand places.

And every year they sell more and more charity places.

It not only discriminates against the ballt entries, but also the smaller charities that cant get on the "golden bond" list.

Don't forget all the deferred entries!

the fact is that there are not enough places so not everyone can do it .....people act is they have a godam right to take part..............if you want to that much organise your own london marathon.........

its the fancy dress runners that make it what it is .........the crowds wouldn't come out in such numbers to watch a pile of average/ crap club runners take part.they enjoy watching the elite.but that is over with very quickly........and then they like to see the famncy dress and the unusual............the girl who hula hooped it all......or the celebs.and they like to see the everyday people who are doing it and are suffering badly but keep on going so that they can raise money for a charity that means something to them.......

its only a race......why do you want to do it.because of the atmosphere of the crowds............but its not you or me the crowds come to watch is it..........

so run faster or just do your own thing if you think you can organise it better and fairer................

Just close your eyes, clench your fists, stamp one foot after another and yell at the top of your voice 'SNOT FAIR! SNOT FAIR! SNOT FAIR!'  If enough of us do it simultaneously then I'm sure the organisers - will not take note.

Yep ballot system is flawed, GFA was fine when I was 40 but running sub 3-15 at 55 is unlikely for me, I enter every year and have succeeded once in 12 years BUT what the heck there are may far far better marathons out there so just do one of those. I the main reason I enter every year is so that should I succeed I can meet up with all my friends afterwards in the pub without feeling guilty that I haven't run a marathon that day. LM is what it is, live with it

The London GFA will follow the others, New York GFA for 40+ men is 2hrs 50mins.

You obviously do not agree with the way VLM is organised, and think it is just a fancy dress event, so why do you want to get in?  If you object that much enter another marathon.

Without the charity runners and the celebs there would be no big sponsor, no crowds, no TV coverage and it would just be another race.

It is just another race.

I'm pretty sure the GFA is just a mechanism to tweak the balance of competitors.  It has been discussed before how the GFA times are biased aganst 50+ men, so it has little bearing on the relative merits of performance for age/sex.

The 1:5 or 1:6 chance of getting in seems about right to me, since this was my fifth attempt and I got in at last .  Now I have a decision to make, because I have already booked Brighton for 2013.  No rush to make that decision.

Anyway, the entry system is what it is and we all know that when we enter, so there's no point bitching about it afterwards.  The organisers are obviously doing something right to get people clammering to enter, raking in huge amounts for charity and getting five hours solid television coverage on the BBC.  They don't know me, so I've no doubt that they didn't mean it as a personal insult when they rejected me for four years.

avit wrote (see)

... I think charities get greedy too with the amount they set for you to raise. Its a money making exercise- the marathon. ...

Greedy charities!  How DARE they try to raise the maximum amount they possibly can for their causes!  Bastards!

Wilkie wrote (see)

avit wrote (see)

... I think charities get greedy too with the amount they set for you to raise. Its a money making exercise- the marathon. ...

Greedy charities!  How DARE they try to raise the maximum amount they possibly can for their causes!  Bastards!

lol............real runners should get preference over those who ae willing to spend hours raising money for the charities