why can people get in year after year

Two-Stroke Tart

I hate to say it Lisa, but it sounds more like you are just pissed off about not getting a place rather than not getting one because you wanted to raise money for your charity.  If doing the marathon is about challenging yourself so that people will sponsor you and you can raise money then I don't see it makes a difference which event you do.  To be honest if you are insisting on getting a place in the London marathon before you raise money for your charity then it doesn't seem like it can be very important to you as you could wait years for a place to com up.  If it was really only about rasing money you would just pick a different marthon to do, there are plenty of others out there

WiB

Just go and get a GFA time or a Championship time... you can even just do a half marathon for a championship qualifying time! How much do you really want it?!

In reality there are ~35k runners. 125k go for the ballot... how many of those 35k places are taken up by GFA, Championship runners, club places, charity bond places, deferred entries from the previous year, overseas entries, celebrity entries, elite entries. Realistically the ballot is not for 35k places out of 125k entries, your chances are probably closer to 1 in 6 than 1 in 4.

With regards to running for a charity... I would never agree to the huge sums they ask to be raised. I agree with the idea of raising money for a charity that you believe is worth raising money for but not just pick one from a list for the sake of running around some streets in the city. I would just go and run another marathon, I have heard a rumour that they are all a similar length to the London one anyway?!

330 or Bust

I havent read whole thread but for the OP to suggest to get a place you have to raise money for a charity is ludicrous.

Believe it or not people can give to charity WITHOUT sponsoring someone to run the London Marathon. I have run 11 Londons 3 times for charity so I have done the fund raising bit. It just annoys me that if you want to run London as a competitive support you are almost frowned up as taking up a charity place and denying a charity money !!!!!

If people want to give to charity they can. Sponsring someone running London is NOT the only way to do it. I have a regular DD to the cancer charity - I dont ask their staff to run round the block every month before I pay it

[Deleted User]

Got a place after five refusals but during those five years I have travelled all over the world and run some fantastic marathons, some for charity and some just for me. London isn't the only marathon out there, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam are all big city marathons that are easy to get into and on par with London. So do what most people do and keep applying for London until you get in. In the mean time try somewhere new.

[Deleted User]

Two-stoke, this was kinda what I was trying to get at lol! I just didn't get it out as well as u did ha!

My reasons for doing the marathon and for doing it for a charity are probably very different to other peoples, I wanted to raise money for charity, unfortunately I didn't get in with the charity I wanted, but I got in with one who do exactly the same thing but on a bigger scale so I was just as happy.

I put on a charity football event one Saturday with a BBQ and raffle, I work full time and am busy in the evenings, but if I can find the time to train for a marathon then I can find the time to send out a few facebook messages and gather some people together. I charged £10 a player, so before I even took for the raffle etc I had £350 (subs paid up too!!)
I did think £2k was a lot to raise, but some how I have managed to almost do it already, I do not have rich friends but I've just thought a lot about it!

I can understand why some people don't fancy going through the marathon route, but I do think, if you are that desperate to run it then a charity is the way to go, and maybe raising money won't be as difficult as you think?

[Deleted User]

I meant charity route not marathon route**

Philomena Cunk

Probably because only 3p in the pound gets to where it needs to go

[Deleted User]

Last couple of years I've entered on the day, just go to race registration on the morning and they will sort you out a spare number

MrsK8

I think it's just a myth that people get in through the ballot year after year, do you actually know of anyone?

It took me 5 years to get in first time round, 2 years later I've just got in again. You win some, you lose some.

If you really want to raise money for this particular charity, pick another marathon or event. If it's really just about running London, then you have to be patient or apply for a golden bond place.

Speedy.G !!!!!!!!!

I have got in 14 times in the last 20 years. 11 times via ballot and 3 gold bond entries. It was a struggle to raise the funds and as over the years the charities want more a d more I do smaller events for charity nit the big ones. I am then not stressed by how much I need to raise just raise as much as I can.

It's just pure luck that I have got in so often. Same with hubby. We put in our entry and wIt and see just like everyone else. Luck is on our side as I held mine over from last year and hubby has got in this year.

Good luck on raising money for your charitywhat ever race you do.

Hellywobs

I think if you want to do London you just have to keep trying.  It's a pity they got rid of the 5 year rule, but it is what it is.

If you want to do a marathon there are so many others you could do, Brighton in 2013, or Edinburgh, Berlin, New Forest, Loch Ness to name but a few.

If you are wedded to London because you need to save money on travel, maybe you could be creative and do two half marathons or even three?  That would also encourage sponsorship.  For example, I live in Hampshire and if I was looking for a challenge that wasn't a marathon, I would do something like Wokingham in February and Fleet in March, or Fleet in March and Reading in April.  Or all three.  

Personally I don't understand the attraction of London and would much rather do a race elsewhere.  

[Deleted User]

I missed out on a place through my first attempt at the ballot. What I want to know is if you run for a charity but can't reach the total pledged, what happens?

Two-Stroke Tart

I think that depends on what the charity stipulates.  Knew I'd heard something in the news about having to pay the shortfall yourself and possibly getting banned see here  Guess it stops people just getting a charity place and then not bothering to do the fund raising; I know it costs the charities quite a bit to buy the bond places.  I would think the best thing to do would be to approach the charity you are thinking of running for and asking them; I would think it would be a fair question in the current climate.  Alternatively look to run for one of the smaller charities that don't ask you to raise so much money.

seren nos

Claire ...I think you should be prepared to make up the rest out of your own pocket............they have others who would take the place so if you commit then you should do it.............otherwise you are taking money away from those that the charity support who desperately need it ............if you feel you cannot make up the shortfall then don't accept the place

 In reality they will contact you several times asking for it and you will be blacklisted form future events..........and then you ahve to live with the fact that you stopped the people getting the money they needed...........

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the info Seren nos and Two Stroke Tart. 

I hadn't even got so far as contacting a charity. I know that I won't be able to raise huge amounts so I won't bother. Just wondered what the procedure was. Think I will be booking myself onto another marathon somewhere else instead and raise a smaller amount for charity in the proces.

Wilkie

The thing with charity places and targets is that the big charities like Cancer Research, MacMillan, Great Ormond Street, etc., are easier to raise money for - everyone has heard of them, knows what they do, so their targets are high because they know people can raise those sums.

Smaller charities will have smaller targets, but they are harder to convince people to support and dig deep for.

If you want to raise some funds, choose a smaller event that you can just enter, then raise what you can with no pressure.

[Deleted User]

The London marathon is the biggest charity fundraiser in the world, it raises more money then children in need, that's why it is sooooooo huge!

I would ask the charity you apply to what their rules are, have a look on, www.CRunCH.org as their charities ask for less money then most, also, just arrange one event, an event will easily get you the money, one charity quiz night with a raffle will raise well over half the money straight away!

I did a football match, each player paid £10, I also did £5 for a yellow card and another £10 for a red card, then we did a BBQ at the pub and some football scratch cards, I raised £650 in one afternoon/evening.

I've got a board of 500 squares, it's £1 a square, you can win an iPod or a satnav or other donated prizes, I will take about £300-£400 from this board too after purchasing the main 2 prizes, I've moved this board around the 4 pubs in my village and it's very nearly full already!

Getting the money is easy if you are clever about it, sittin on your bottom and expecting people to just give it to you will never work!

X

Two-Stroke Tart

I think some of the ease with with you can raise the money also depends on how hard the challenge would be.  To be honest I wouldn't sponsor someone for running a marathon if they've been running for a long time and have done marathons before, it's not a challenge for them.   But someone who's putting themselves out of their comfort zone to do a marathon will get my money - maybe someone who's never run before or only ever done a 10k.  For them it's a huge task, with months of running through the winter just to get through the training and then completing the event itself.  Personnally I think it's much easier to get people to give money if the task ahead isn't easy.