Why do the London Marathon organisers discriminate against middle aged runners?

Mr Puffy wrote (see)

I wish I had a quid for every time I've read a thread on here telling the London Marathon organisers how to run their race.

It is their race to do what they like with. Like it or lump it.

I wish I had a quid!

Johnny Blaze wrote (see)

I think it's because they don't want the race to be 80% middle aged baldy club runners.

Or those with their own hair

"There are three main ways to get a place in the London Marathon:  via the ballet, via a charity or through a coveted “Good For Age” (GFA) place."

Clubs affiliated to UKA also get places, the number depeding on the size of the club.

You're more likely to get a club place than a ballot place in my club.

I'm rubbish at ballet

I thought being a minor celebrity was also a catergory that would gain you a place in the VLM. You even get your own start pen. So if you don't make the GFA grade get your self on a reality show of some sort and bingo guaranteed place

I had to get to 50 before I got a GFA and then-not expecting to- did it twice in a year.Ironically, the first London GFA was achieved at Boston which I wouldnt have been able to run if 3.15 was the GFA for that race -3.30 was the GFA for me then for that race. Saying that ,it took my third attempt at London to go uner 3.15-this year- as in 2010, I failed by 23 seconds.

 Im hoping they relax  the GFA  ready for when Im 55 as Im not convinced I can keep going at this pace much longer-bits seem to be falling apart! Thats the point I suppose -endurance may remain but the rest of the body wont repair quickly or at all when broken and it seems to break a lot more now than when I was younger.

Does anyone have any idea how much the charities have to pay for their places? As they seem to want people to raise thoudands of pounds which seems a lot.

@NLR - doesnt it depend on the type of place? Gold or Silver bond? 300 is definitely right but I can't remember if it was for gold or silver.

Millsy, it's not actually a business - after operating costs any money is distributed to various charities, community projects, etc.

There has been criticism of how this is done, but the London Marathon is not in business to make a profit.

It is a business which is organised on a not-for-profit basis. Rather than maximising profit, the aim is to maximise their surplus. It amounts to pretty much the same thing. 'Business' is not a dirty word restricted to money grabbing capitalists!

Yep London Marathon is a business. Its a charity and its duty is to maximise its contributions. 

No - but I took Millsy's thinking to be that LM was making money to line the pockets of the directors and/or shareholders, etc.

I don't understand why they charge such a small individual entry fee (compared to other big city marathons).  They could certainly increase the surplus by putting that up a bit - people would still scramble to pay it.

sssssh !!!

You'd be surprised how many disgruntled people complain about "greedy" charities, filling their pockets with the hard-earned cash of the humble marathon runner.

I munged the figures from last year's Abingdon marathon (up to mv50 & fv55) and percentage wise more women do get GFA times - e.g. 26% of male seniors vs 32 % of F seniors, 32% of mv40s vs 30-51% of fv35 & fv45s (it is a bit confused because the lines are drawn in different places to the gfa lines). 20% of mv50 vs 55% of fv55...

But numbers wise there are more than twice as many male seniors, about twice as many male middleaged runners, and almost five times as many mv50 as fv55 - when it comes to numbers who have made the grade.

Would be interesting to hear from the London organizers what their goals are with GFA...