Bonds

[Deleted User]

Wilkie wrote (see)

 

The London Marathon is about fundraising.  That's what it's purpose is.

Sorry but I strongly disagree.

However, I would never take a GB place if I wasn't sure I can raise the required money.

[Deleted User]

It seems the GB places are the second way to get into the massivley oversubscribed FLM, yet there is a kind of ballot with these- the cheap GB places - £750 I saw one last year, these will go first but then the ones left £2.5K etc will be snapped up. Whilst these will be OK for those involved with these charities it's a tall order for those with little or no interest - they should be for only the most comitted folk I reckon.

I know someone who did a GB place and they had to provide evidence of all the things they'd done or organised to get the money . The *Just giving* pages are full of people asking for donations but many I see seem well short .

There are plenty of top quality marathons to do if doing a marathon is the thing - all of them a lot less hassle than London , but if FLM it is then it's either ballot or GB.

Basil Brush Mk II

You probably have a point there Mike. One of the reasons I got my GB place was that the previous year I'd gathered together a team of volunteers to do a running event and we'd been one of the top fundraisers - the charity's woman's phrase on the phone was something like "we know you're good for it, but even if you don't quite make it we won't hold you to it".

Hornchurch Hammer

Spanna - you cannot be blacklisted from the ballot but charities can add you to a  GB blacklist. Not sure how the process works but I presume they have to justify it and give full details. Would be unfair if you only fell 10 - 20% short but if you only get half what they want then you can understand.

[Deleted User]

Having done a few road marathons and some XC marathons aswell as a couple of Ultras I doubt I could raise £5 for running FLM - nobody I know would see it as a challenge for me. I'm self employed and don't have a whole load of collegues to ask for donations - I've seen people at the gym trying to raise money and often people are tired of being asked to give.

All that said I have the utmost respect for those that can raise £2.5K and more - it must take far more effort to do that than train for a mere marathon. I *couldn't* do it - I can run a marathon tomorrow but I wouldn't know where to start to raise that kind of money.

I reckon it's best left for the seriously comitted charity fundraiser - leave it to them , run a normal marathon like Strafoprd for the challenge.

Fido2Dogs

Part of the paradox is that london is  such a big deal partly because, for a lot of the runners, a marathon is  a big deal, it is tremendously hard and painful and a lot of work, they aren't naturally good at it and they are (at the same time) trying to make things better for people who are going through such awful times that, comparatively, a 6h mara with blisters would be a walk in the park. That's pretty inspiring and that's one of the reasons why people come out in their droves to cheer the runners on.

Sure there are other marathons, but in them, the proportion of people for who the whole "running" thing is just a foreign country is much smaller. Sure you have slower runners, and first timers, at these, but they will generally be regular runners nonetheless.

And surely it's the support that makes London so special - you can run a lot of the course (OK, on the pavement) any time!

cougie

Edith - the London Marathon look like they disagree with you :

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/marathon-centre/history-london-marathon/charity-history/


The marathons own charity is better off by 28M pounds - and thats ignoring the hundreds of other charities that have got their millions too.

Without the charity aspect - the LM wouldnt be the marathon it is today.

[Deleted User]

Agree with Cougie.

If it wasn't about making money then there probably wouldn't be a ballot and there wouldn't be all of this bequeathing malarky as well.

Don't get me wrong....the money it raises is amazing, but it's not organised as a race except for the elites. Because of this I was actually wondering if London should be one of the marathon majors, but then I thought that it's probably good that all of the majors aren't the same and that London offers something unique.

It's still an arse to get into though.