Am i the only person who thinks the whole registration process is a complete farce? Thousands of us will arrive after a long train journey only to have to fight our way accross London to register and then fight our way across London to our hotel. The whole day will be gone - not a very relaxing day before the marathon! This is stressing me more than running the marathon !
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It's so that they can check the identity of the runners, as one of the anti-black market strategies.
Or if I was cynical I could say that it was because they want you to spend money at the stands at Expo, and therefore support their sponsors.
It's normal practice in many other countries.
And it's hardly a huge trek - it's a ride on the DLR.
if it stresses you why not go on one of the other days......not sure what you want them to change.....pick up your numbers in the morning at the start
I am staying near the Barbican - that would have been ok for me! Points taken - i will just enjoy the day and promise to spend some money whilst there.
You can also get someone else to pick up your number for you.
It's part of the build up.
Plus, I bumped into Nam and KK last year and it was fun.
Running 26.2 miles is tough. If you can't get a train and collect a number then Sunday will be torture.
It should be pointed out that the expo has freebies too. And cheap stuff. I got a shedload of Hilly mono skins for two quid one year....
Oh and meet your mates.
I can't stand the expo and find it a massive inconvenience, and it's only 30 mins from work. My usual aim is to see if I can get in and out in under 5 minutes. Although I did once pick up a good book there, and did see Gebrselassie, so there you go.
However, I can see the argument that it discourages a secondary market in numbers, and is probably worth it just for that. Although in New York, the expo is where you go to buy someone else's number - they stand outside and sell them. Better than Seatwave somehow flogging them for £400 and claiming it's all above board and legal though.
And I can see that it's exciting if you haven't done it a dozen times before and don't mind the insipid music.