Virgin marathon ballot scam

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Comments

  • I thought with a celebrity name like yours Curly you would be in the very posh tent.

  • Has the OP got tickets for Glastonbury or is that a scam as well?

  • If Glastonbury had any sense they would make that a ballot too.

  • Curly45Curly45 ✭✭✭
    Lol to NLR I should try that shouldn't I?



    "Don't you know who I am (named after)" :P
  • With an option to bequeath to the X Factor contestants beneavolent fund if you don't get in?

  • There are posh loo's when you run GFA!?  

    *gone for run*    

  • Just to add to the conspiracy theory, this year 23 people in our circle of friends,family, etc. applied, non bequeathed, ( yes we are tight buggers) and guess what? No-one got accepted, so try again next year. Good luck to those who succeded

  • Dave.don't let fact get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.........

    the fact is very very few did get in via the ballot...

  • That detracts from the conspiracy theory.

  • I bet if London went down the Boston route, there would be even more complaints. There is a guaranteed way to get in and that is to train and get a GFA time. But it seems people with do anything for a place...but they won't do that.

    Excuses the dots but if was for my Meatloaf effect.

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    What! You mean people should be training for these events?
  • Id rather buy a pair of Adidas Adistar shoes than have to do training ...... (actually I already have, but it turns out you still need to train, as I found out when I nearly dropped dead on the treadmill yesterday trying to keep up with some 60 year old granny who had started 10 minutes earlier than me).

     

  • Yes Millsy. It almosy like cheating isn't it?

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Especially as it is supposed to be a running race.
  • Make up your mind. Is it an event or is it a race?

  • yes but if everyone trained and got a GFA place then they would have to move the GFA significantly faster to give the same number of places.........

    so can we please not tell everyone and their dog to trainimage

  • As for 'tendering to run it'. 'The current organisers' are the charity who proposed, fronted the money, obtained permission and have organised it from day one. 

    Virgin Money are just the current sponsors.

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


  • Tim, the problem with that is there is only room for one London marathon, so should the first ones in the door get to hold the event forever and a day? Like I said in an earlier post, lets say I wanted to host it, and lets say I had a plan that allowed more people to run, was more efficient, used resources better etc etc ........ should all that be thrown out the door because at the time of the first London marathon I was 6 years old? Should I have submitted my plan when I was 5 to beat the current organisers?

    And thats the point, you cant just say 'organise your own' because if you can get, on tape, Boris Johnson saying 'yes we will allow London to be shut down for another day during the year' .. then you have a valid point. If you cant get him saying that, then the 'organise your own' becomes completely null and void.

  • The first London Marathon only had about 15,000 runners Mr A.

    The same organisers have successfully grown the event to around 35,000 and it is now at capacity. You can't make the field any bigger. You can't redesign London. That's all there is to it.

  • Mr A.

     I think me and family could make a much better job of being the Royal Family.......but just because those idiots got into Buckinham palace first its not fair.

    They should put the job out to tender every 5 years.because if I tried and set up my own royal Family and king and queen in London the authorities wouldn't let meimage

  • Some things are natural monopolies. The Olympics, The Soccer World Cup, The Royal Family. Having two is pointless.

    Is London at capacity? I think it's over capacity as a race. As a carnival procession it's plenty more space to go. 

    There were two marathons held in London in 2012. Look at the problems they had deciding on a route for that. 

    So Mr A, would you change the route as part of your proposed new marathon?

    There is nothing to stop you approaching Boris with your 'better' idea, nor is there anything stopping you suggesting to The Lonson Marathon Ltd a better way of selecting people or applying for a job with them. 

  • Boston isn't much smaller or faster. They also have places for mobility impaired and  blind people. I suspect Boston has wider streets.

    If you ran London with a morning and an afternoon wave, you might increase the capacity by 2/3. Would people be running the 'same' marathon though?

  • Seren Nos ...... I think you are trying to usurp my point, but instead your only enhancing it.  Two wrongs, dont make a right. So the Royal Family likewise also needs to go.

     

  • Screamapillar ..... so where did this figure of 35,000 come from? Was it a finger in the air maximum capacity?

     

    From what I heard one of the reasons for the limit is that there are so many slow people that the limit is so they can get the streets back opened quicker. So what if you were to increase the amount by say 5,000, but you have a stricter finishing time and sweeper vehicles so that if you havent finished it by X hours, then your race is over.

    The bigger issue here is, is it a race or an event? And if its an event, and not a race, who decided that, and why does that decision get to remain forever more just because 'they were in first'.

    Sometimes I love the apathy on here, shrug of the shoulders 'Its the way it always is', 'seems fine as it is'.

  • it doesnt help with VLM keep moving the GFA times, for example this year!

  • it does help.it meant my hubby got one when he didn't last year image

  • seren nos does have a tandancy for bizarre comparisonsimage 

    I agree that the marathon belongs to the people not even the original organisers. If London were not happy with them they could kick them out and get someone else in. Without permission to close the streets for a day they have nothing.

    Same thing goes for the organisers of The Brighton Marathon who think that they own the marathon because they organise it, can charge what they like and put big hidden fees on. Without the authorities and people of Brighton they have nothing.

  • Thats exactly right Sussex Runner. If the organisers suddenly announced that for 2015 due to various restrictions, they are going to have to host the race in Slough instead ... but dont worry, its the same organisers ... do you think you would still have issues of people not getting in through the ballot. I think not. People are there purely because of London. So just because someone 'got in first' why should they forever more have the monopoly on how its run, what is charged etc etc. By tendering out the race every 5 or 10 years, you are encouraging organisers to keep innovating to make sure they run the best event that can be held to showcase London. If the current organisers are the best to run it, thats fine, then let them put themselves up again for the tender and if they are best, they'll get the tender again. They should have nothing to fear, unless of course they are worried someone else will come along with a better and more efficient way of running the London marathon.

    I have no beef with the current organisers, I have a beef with the lack of transparency in the whole process.

  • djwolfdjwolf ✭✭✭

    Boston isn't much smaller or faster. They also have places for mobility impaired and  blind people. I suspect Boston has wider streets.

     

    Boston marathon starts in Hopkinton and finishes in Boston, so strictly speaking Boston does not have to close down like London. Plus Boston is a raceimage

  • er...  as a Brighton marathon entrant..... what "big hidden fees" have I yet to discover?

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