Virgin marathon ballot scam

1235

Comments

  • I would say the upheaval of changing organisers wouldn't be worth it.

    What needs to be more transparent? 

  • They hit you with a 5.75 admin charge right at the end after you have gone through the registration process. After agreeing to pay 50/60/70 pounds they charge a large amount to process it. A fee that is by no means avoidable. The airlines have been heavily criticised for doing this and the government has banned the practice. I don't see how it is any different for a marathon. 

    In short, don't worry. See you at the start line hopefullyimage

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

    I suggest that it's maximum capacity because it's been the same for years now. And I suggest the reason for that is due to many factors - some of which neither of us will probably know anything about. 

    I further suggest that if you changed the format then charity would lose out - and whatever anyone's feeling about that, it's one thing that's never going to be allowed to happen. 

  • I hate that sort of thing. But it's ages since I entered, and have forgotten.

    See you on the start line... unless my name gets pulled out of the hat for the club place in London - although that it won't because the club committee will have set up some sort of scam to prevent me from winning it.

  • Is that Brighton, Sussex Runner? I got part of the way through the registration process and decided not to bother.

    Also: for the record, I think the London marathon is both a race and an event, that it's brilliant for faster runners and slower runners, and the people who think it's rubbish are the ones in the middle. Which is probably where all the overcrowding is.

  • So London is great for the extreme end of society but for the majority of runners, it sucks ......... well thats handy. 

    I'd love to see the organisers do an experiment where they agree it will be them organising the event with the same set up, same support, so everything is exactly the same as the London marathon ..... except they are going to run the whole thing in Slough.

    Then we'll see how committed everyone is to raising money for charity. 

    My guess is ..... not much. So for all the brooha over charity, my guess is that for a majority of people the charity aspect is a means to an end (ie allows them to run in the thing).

     

  • Mr A - the whole point of London as an event and a race is that it is a complete package - remove any element of it and it won't work.

    It draws runners (slow and fast) and spectators because of its location and the course on which it is run including its landmarks. This is one of the main reasons for its sucess, as is the topography - it's flat and fast. 

    It's the transport infrastructure that allows for that - if you moved it to Slough, even if 35,000 runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators wanted to go (which they wouldn't) they wouldn't be able to get there, so your whole argument is fallacious.

    If the charity route is a "means to an end" so what? People know what they're letting themselves in for in terms of fundraising. It's not compulsory.

    The VLM tries it best to be a things to all men and it succeeds by and large. If you want it turned into a race that nobody really wants to run just to make you happy  I suggest you really have got your head stuck a long way up your own rear end.

     

  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭

    A non - its like any other event. You’ll need permission from both the local council and the police to put on a road race. Often the police will be happy to support your event if the council gives it the go-ahead. If it’s on the roads, you’re also going to need the consent of the Highways Authority. 

    So apply to the local councils and they will judge your event on its merits.  Of course it will be compared to other events it hosts and you better demonstrate why the DF3 London Marathon is a better bet than VLM.  this is no different to organising races in slough. 

  • Besides which, would you take the organisation away from someone who had successfully organised an event year after year and give it to a bunch of people that have never organised an event before?

    Should I take away your job Mr A and give it to a 16 year old school leaver?

  • Penny drops. I'm so thick. Of course. Me and Pooh bear.image

  • SR - my point was you don't take a job away from a person who's good at it, with a wealth of experience, and give it to someone who isn't.

     

  • Mr A..if you can't get a good for age then you are just a bog standard runner.......and so no more worthy of a place than any tom dick or harry of the street,......

    If you were a dedciated runner you woyuld get your GFA.or at least be able to run a decent time for someone so young .....

    why on earth would we give London to you to organise when you can't even organise yourself to train...

  • And we've had this argument before Seren, under a slightly different guise.

    Mr A is like a dog with a very old bone that he won't let go - he keeps bringing up a certain incident with a runner at the Brighton Marathon too.

    I'm all for debate but not the same one over and over - it shows how narrow his world view must be if he really can't think of anything else to talk about.

  • "Should I take away your job Mr A and give it to a 16 year old school leaver?"

    By that logic, lets scrap all elections then ...... from what Ive heard, David Milliband has never been Prime Minister so why would you give him the job?

  • "Mr A..if you can't get a good for age then you are just a bog standard runner.......and so no more worthy of a place than any tom dick or harry of the street,......" - seren nos.

    If I was bog standard, that would make me one of the 'majority' of runners. Is it unreasonable that as such, an opportunity to run in their capital city, one of the major cities in the world would be appealing to them, except to find its restricted to elite runners or those whos only interest in running is doing the London marathon, or nothing else?

    Not quite sure I would dismiss their concerns as easily as youre doing.

     

  • GFA is not elite.its just runners who get out there most days and run/.......try it.you might surprise yourself....

  • Do you know if the standards are the same regarding men vs women? I assume in this day and age, even allowing for physical differences it would be equally as hard for men to make their GFA as it would be  for women??

    Is that about right?

  • its about percentages...

  • lolimage

    anyways Im only playing devils advocate, I have no intention of ever running  a marathon. A daft distance.

     

  • I know Mr A.it doesn't give you enough time for the muscles to warm up properely......

  • For what it's worth, the London marathon was founded by runners and is still run by runners. Pretty happy that that's the case. Passing it on to the highest bidder would, in my opinion, have pretty negative effects and might in the long run make it less transparent - if, for example, it is run as a business, the company running it could always hide behind commercial reasons for not being transparent. 

  • Referring to a post I cannot quote, I think you'll find that extremely few people in the country are proposing that David Milliband should be given the job of prime minister.

  • "anyways Im only playing devils advocate"  - Mr A - good use of the devils advocate card when you were put on the back foot. image

  • By that logic, lets scrap all elections then ...... from what Ive heard, David Milliband has never been Prime Minister so why would you give him the job?

    The logic is perfectly sound - a Prime Minster is merely the head of the political party which wins the election. Ed Miliband already qualified to do the job.

    David Miliband, on the other hand, emigrated to the USA - proving my point that your world view is very narrow.

  • Au contraire, my world is far from narrow. In fact you'll often catch me at the Tate on a Saturday, admiring some art, then stepping back and saying out loud 'This piece really speaks to me.'

    Culture isnt just something at the bottom of an actimel bottle.

     

  • FWIW, I entered the ballot and didn't get in and immediately started working out which marathon would take it's place, simple.

    I've bequeathed twice in the past, didn't get in but still entered the following year, nothing will change for me it's a ballot and the rules are clear at registration, move on and find another marathon or as others have said aim for a GFA, I'm 3 minutes away and will work harder to achieve it.

    Best of luck to all running charity and racers alike!

  • image that's a sensible attitude.

  • Thanks Screama, nothing I do after receiving my unlucky mag will change a thing and I'd rather expend my time productively and to be honest aside from pricing people out of the entry ( considering New York is $300 dollars and oversubscribed) I don't think there's any better way then the current system considering the price.

  • It seems to me that the organisers of Brighton saw there were thousands of people wanting to run London and who couldn't get in. Cue instant success by finding another 'city' close by That didn't already have a marathon. 

    There must be loads of city's crying out for marathons.

    Is Norwich a city? Does it have a marathon already?

Sign In or Register to comment.