I have a GFA place for this year's London Marathon but can't run as I picked up an injury a few months ago. According to the instructions, if I withdraw they then send me an email back and I am guaranteed a place for 2015 (if I pay again).
However presumably if I then get injured again (I'm not usually a pessimist!), I can't then defer again to 2016 as I'm pretty sure you can only defer once. So given that I need to pay again anyway, would I be better off just withdrawing and not deferring? That way I can apply for a GFA place for 2015 (as my GFA time was from April 2013) from scratch and should be able to defer to 2016 if injured again. That seems to be the better option - only risk is if they make the GFA times faster (but mine is 20 mins faster than the target so should be OK) or ditch GFA altogether. Am I missing anything here?!
Comments
Can't you defer (they don't make you pay upfront, do they?) and then apply for GFA again anyway instead of taking up your deferred place?
Thanks Literatin, I'm not sure how this works but I know I have to 'withdraw' by April 12th, otherwise I guess I'll still appear in the results list as a DNS. Yes would be good if I can apply for GFA place too, as long as I know the details of this before the deadline for paying for the deferred place. Shouldn't be thinking about 2016 now really, we're only just in 2014!
Perhaps you will run another GFA time in 2015 and it won't matter.
Positive thinking, I like it!
I had this a couple of years ago. I just left it and used my GFA the following year. Do it the other way around and you've had it if you get injured again.
I think Lit has it right. Just because you defer, it doesn't necessarily mean you will go on to take that place up next year. If you don't get a GFA you still have a place, although you'll have to pay for it = win/win.
I'm in a different situation but wonder if any of you guys can help me on this. I have a ballot entry for 2014 (blue start) which I have to defer. Thing is, I hope to run a GFA time at Abingdon this autumn. Does anyone know if it is possible to switch a blue start to a GFA start under these circumstances?
Yes, people often upgrade from GFA to champs start if they run a faster time. But since you have to pay again, you could just enter as GFA anyway.
Runmikerun, I think the GFA applications usually have to be in by the beginning of July. So you'd need to run a GFA time before July to get a place for 2015. If you have a deferred place anyway for 2015, you could always call and try to get this switched tithe GFA start. Worth a try at least.
Thanks for the advice, of course the first thing I need to do is run the GFA (missed by 54 secs last year)!
Can anyone confirm a GFA time give you ywo years entry, I had a nightmare run and would like to put it right next year!?
http://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/marathon-centre/enter-virgin-london-marathon/good-for-age-entries/
These were the conditions for this years race, although doesn't mean they'll be the same for 2015.