To be disapointed at not getting a London marathon place, but anoyed that charities want £1500 to run it.

[Teapotqueen]

I found out this week that I didn't get a place in the London marathon through the ballot, Iwas disappointed but thought I might be able to get a charity place. I checked some charity websites and the lowest amount needed to raise for a place is £1500. I am not particularly well off and neither are my friends so this rules me out of a place. I know they have to raise as much out of the place as they can, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. Thanks you for listening.

I bet the limbless soldier makes loads of cash for charity.

I work for a charity and part of the reason the sponsorship is high is that charities need to buy the places. They don't get them for free so some of the sponsorsip actually goes to pay expenses. Then you need to advertise you have places for people to run which obviously costs money as well as staff costs for the time put in applying for places then advertising taking queries etc.

So how much does this charity actually get in the end after all these 'expenses'?

And we all know the charity the soldier would choose, not unpopular choice with MN

£1500 really isnt that much if you are prepared to put a bit of effort in. My sister raised 12 grand for a large well known charity, but she worked bloody hard to do it (quiz nights, spending her weekends doing collections in shopping centres, etc). It was nothing to do with how 'well off' our family and friends are (which they arent by the way!)

YABU. My sister co-ordinates runners for the leukaemia charity she works for. It is their single biggest earner of the year - without the committment of runners they would not be able to operate.

The London Marathon is the largest charity event on the planet, maybe you could choose one that is not so charity oriented, or as someone said, just go for a really long run.

Try some smaller local charities. They don't all want as much as that.

but it is understandable that charities want to raise as much as they possibly can for their places, so I think if someone takes one, they should make a huge effort to raise as much as they can.

Interesting article here by an investigative journo for Dispatches on how the Marathon is financed.

That is an interesting article but wtf is the www.mrtesticles.com/ link at the end?!

The problem with the Dispatches article is that it doesn't include money raised by individual runners for their own charities which is by far the largest contribution to charity from the event. Tbh, I didn't even realise that the LM made a profit. I just assumed it broke even, so that's actually better than I thought.

However, as the article points out, charities pay a minimum of £300 for each place. They need to get £1500 to make it worth while, especially as they will have some runners just drop out and realistically they're not going to be able to get the £300 back.

Overall, OP is BU because there are loads of other marathons she could do if that's the main aim. It doesn't have to be London. Runners World has a great race listing.

I heard somewhere that if you are rejected 3 times for the London marathon then you automatically get a place in the following years race. True or urban myth?? Not sure but could be worth finding out.

I think that used to be the case, frazzle, but they've stopped that.

OP, you have three choices the way I see it:

1. Keep applying for the ballot every year, in the hope you'll get lucky one year;
2. Get a charity place and accept the fact you'll have to work very hard to raise the money;
3. Forget about London altogether. There are loads of other marathons in the UK! London's supposed to be a great marathon, admittedly, but that's why it's so oversubscribed.

Or, indeed, you could do a mix of 1) and 3).

Good luck whichever way! I'm a runner, a half's about my limit, total respect to anyone who manages to run 26 miles and 385 yards.

My friends dh got a place for VLM next year through the ballot, it was his 5th year of applying. I understand your pain, london is so iconic, and committing to raise £1500 is tough, it's such a lot of money, but, I think if you start early enough it is not impossible.

I think the current system is fair. A ballot and charity places.

You know Brighton marathon is a good one to run? Something to think about.

Yes- Brighton is supposed to be great.

My husband has run the London Marathon a few times and I know that BLESMA don't ask you to raise very much) he raised a few hundred each time). The big charities ask for larger amounts because they're popular choices and can afford to pick and choose those runners who commit to raising more finance. IIRC, however, BLESMA used to ask that you had a Forces connection - that might have changed now.

This year, he ran the Edinburgh marathon (called them up a fortnight in advance and asked for a place and got it), the Glasgow half-marathon and he's just finished (a few minutes ago - literally!) the Loch Ness Marathon. He didn't run for charity for either Edinburgh or Glasgow but he ran the Loch Ness marathon for Erskine (a charity helping Scottish veterans).

If anyone feels like donating to a worthy cause - his Just Giving page is here.

i think that as the london marathon is a popular even that is heavily oversubscribed then this is just one of those things.

fwiw my dp has a place to run in the london marathon he is doing it for Childhoodfirst, the charity for whom he works, he also has a £1500 minimum to raise and we are NOT rich, but will get sponsors where we can and do other stuff to fundraise, even carboot etc if we have to. you do have from now to next april to raise the money so i dont think its a huge amount to raise in the time scale.

and i will be prob do a thread on mn asking for donations once we have a just giving page set up etc! every little bit helps :)

Whoops - he hasn't yet finished the Loch Ness Marathon - he has a mile and a half to go (according to the text I just received).

A lot of the charities at the London Marathon run 'after events' in hired or donated buildings around The Mall / Green Park area. Perhaps some of the buildings have costs and that has to be factored in.

I didn't know this until this year when we went for a walk at the end of the marathon (we weren't taking part) but were really shocked to discover that some people after completing then had to walk up the stairs at Waterloo Place and then walk up hill towards the Ritz for charities who were located near there. A lot of people seemed to be in total agony.

£1500 is definitely excessive for a very high profile event which will get a lot of tv coverage. But I guess if they are having to pay (which is totally unreasonable) then that is reasonable.

YABU. You don't have to be middle class to fundraise - that's total and utter crap - sorry.

There are lots of ways to fundraise, they just involve a lot of hard work. My parents run the LM for charities most years; they raise money by hosting a Sunday lunch for people, and then ask people to make contributions that way.

Can you bake? Sew? Plenty of opportunities to make stuff in the run up to Christmas and sell it.

I think you'll be surprised how many people will sponsor you/ buy things from you, especially if you choose a popular charity to run for.

I think it really depends on how much you want to do it. If you're passionate about doing it this year, you'll find a way. If not, wait for next year's ballot.

And he's finished - 4h 53mins! Not his fastest time for a marathon but considering he's not been able to train as much as he wanted to as he's currently preparing to deploy in seven weeks' time, that's a good time!

Just run a different marathon. There is one on somewhere in the UK at least once a month. If you run the 'Good For Age' qualification time then you qualify for London for the next two years. I ran Halstead marathon (in Essex) and got into London that way, with no commitment to raise any money at all if I didn't want to. I did choose to raise money, though.

jscot well done to your hubby! Loch Ness is a hilly course.

I ahve not yet run a marathon, half is my limit at the mo, but by the time I am 40 (am 35 now) I will have done.

Agree, try another marathon. London is iconic, but as a race is now much busier and more crowded than it used to be. DH did it this year after a 10 year break and said, for a runner, rather than a fundraiser, there are loads of better options.

FWIW I think people who haven't run a marathon (or provided support for someone that has) don't realise how much time is spent training for a marathon. It's hard enough to fit it in, without the added pressure of fundraising a minimum sum.

"Loch Ness is a hilly course"

The literature described it as "gently undulating" which is Scottish for bloody steep and hilly! He did say that the scenery was breathtaking, however. This was (according to him) his last bit of fun* before he deploys, so I hope he's enjoyed it.

*Most emphatically not my idea of fun - I keep fit but I loathe running and could never contemplate a marathon. I am all admiration for anyone who can do it!

I did London a few years ago with a charity place and raising the money was just as hard as the training. But that is the trade off if you don't get a place in the ballot. A few years later I did the Stratford upon avon marathon when I didn't get a place for London. It was great and not too busy at all.

This year I've just got my rejection through and tbh, I'm pleased. It was going to be a tough ask with DD2 under 1.