To think the London marathon isn't all it's cracked up to be?

[Upstairsdownstairs30]

Starting a thread as have no one to talk about this with in real life...

I ran the London marathon on Sunday, it was my first ever marathon. All of my friends and family made such an effort to support me throughout the marathon and training for it... BUT I didnt have the best experience and didn't get the huge high I was expecting to feel at the end..?

I felt like there were so many people I had no space to run and kept barging into people, I also don’t think other people running it were that chatty? I've always had lots of people strike up conversations at local half marathons but London... none? (Maybe it was my focus face?) The course also wasn’t that exciting, it was mostly just high streets and by the time you got to the landmark I was too tired to notice. The finish line was also ready odd. I thought it would be really obvious but just looked like the bridge they'd set up for spectators so wasn't 100% sure I'd actually finished, there also wasn't the music/ party atmosphere I expected?

Is it just me or has anyone else experienced this sense of anticlimax? I expected a massive rush! Is it just me? Or is it because I was 4 minutes off the finish time I wanted?

I ran it last year and this year and for me there were no wave issues last year . However this year after 3 miles
we merged with slower runners who had started before us and it was a nightmare for at least 10 miles . I had to go on footpaths and go through people . My heels got clipped and I clipped heels several times .

London marathon acknowledged that there was an issue with my particular wave this year . Last year when we merged we seemed to merge with runners going at roughly the same pace .

I love the atmosphere beforehand , going to Greenwich , chatting to people who are often on their own as friends are frequently in a different wave . However I don't really like the course . I enjoy Tower Bridge but hate the embankment. Big Ben never arrives and then the trek up to the mall is endless.

It's kind of weird at the end as you turn into the Mall at Buckingham Palace. It's quiet and then on the mall, it's nothing like a screaming crowd in a smaller city where people are really close to the runners and not in the stand like in London.
You rarely get to spot anyone you know in London as the streets are wide and the crowds are big . However the support is fantastic and I'm always humbled by the way people shout as if you are their nearest and dearest .
To be there is nothing like running my home city marathon where I get cheered on by people I know and my club members .

Still going to do London again next year though !

"You rarely get to spot anyone you know in London as the streets are wide and the crowds are big"

I guess it depends where you go..I saw my husband 3 times. Close enough to talk to.

I had no idea idea about the pier..

But I meant equal in prestige, as in, running round a moor isn't particularly any more or less difficult than running round London.

More prestigious doesn't mean more difficult though. London is arguably the second or third
most prestigious marathon in the world, but certainly much easier to complete than say a trail marathon on cliff paths.

Of course terrain makes a difference to how difficult running is.

Running on grass slows you down by a good 15s per minute at least. Running on a smooth road is going to feel much easier than running on grass, gravel, rocks etc.

Of course running on flat smooth roads is less difficult than running across a moor and up hills...

Have you never noticed how you exert yourself a bit more when walking up a small hill, compared to a flat road...

I mean... Yes...in that you achieve running 26.2 miles on every marathon so they're equal in that sort of prestige. It's an achievement whether it's all downhill or through bogs.

Bit it's far easier to achieve the downhill one than the boggy one.

I'll remember that when I'm running over Beachy Head and Severn Sisters this weekend in a thunder storm

Will they cancel for lightening?

But I meant equal in prestige, as in, running round a moor isn't particularly any more or less difficult than running round London

Ha ha ha WHAT?! Try doing the Yorkshireman marathon over hills and bogs and finishing on a big cobbled hill. Or maybe the Snowdonia trail which, you know, summits Snowdon.

London Marathon, or any road marathon, are far easier to complete than those. But the difference comes in the time you run, obviously. My road marathon PB is far faster than my trail marathon PB for very good reason.

I’ve done it once and plenty of halves, and I can’t think of anything worse than someone trying to be chatty at a run!

@00100001
You rarely get to spot anyone you know in London as the streets are wide and the crowds are big"

I guess it depends where you go..I saw my husband 3 times. Close enough to talk to.

Well yes, you could spot people early on at some of the quieter locations and even at some of the busy spots if you are on the correct side of the road or you know where they are going to be .
But generally it's more difficult compared to smaller marathons.
I find the cheering on of friends and family vital in the last 2 miles to help me maintain my pace.
It sounds very ungrateful as I think the support is incredible but at times I find the noise of the crowd overwhelming , especially in the last few miles when I am so tired. I know I complained about it being a bit quiet coming up the mall with the crowds being further away so maybe I'm just never happy

Chatty will depend where in the pack you find yourself.

People just out to finish and have a good day will chat. Anyone taking it seriously has better things to do with their breath! But that's the case in any race.

I go to support club mates every year. Its rare not to spot them. You need to do the prep though. Know what time they're due and what they're wearing. Let them know where you'll be and what you're wearing (it's easier for them to to spot you than vice versa).

Of 8 people I went to see this year, I only missed one. It does take mammoth concentration though. I was exhausted by the end!

People just out to finish and have a good day will chat. Anyone taking it seriously has better things to do with their breath!

Absolutely. Those marathons where I've just been out to enjoy the day and get round in a decent time have been by far the most enjoyable as I've had a chat with others around me. More so on trail marathons where time isn't so much of an issue.

But when I'm going for a PB it's strictly business and I couldn't chat even if I wanted to..!

No chatting for me either , except when waiting to start .
If I can chat , then I'm not going fast enough as I feel I should only be able to say a word or two and not full sentences.
Although I have to say , I did a run with pacers before one marathon and we did it pretty quickly but felt obliged to chat along the way and the time and distance went by so quickly !

Flat roads knacker your joints though, I thought. Anyway, good to know, should I ever have a complete personality transplant and decide to do one, I will be opting for the pier.

Been thinking about something @Lastqueenofscotland2 said about GFA being a better chance than the ballot and - although my maths is awful and GFA is not easy - I think she's probably right.
So if the chance of getting into London through a ballot place is 17,000 out of 350,000 that's about 1 in 20.
If you applied for the ballot every year for 20 years you'd get in one of those times. On average.

So in the several - up to 20 - years you're applying to the ballot and failing, the vast majority of runners could run a GFA time if they trained hard enough. I mean proper, focused training.

GFA for a 40 year old is 3:50 (or more like 3:45 if you factor in having to run under the qualifying time). And if you'd started training for that in your early 30s while also applying for the ballot every year, it seems more likely you'd hit GFA before you get a ballot place.

That would certainly tally with my own experience too - I've never got in through the ballot (15 ish entries) but have run GFA a few times, despite starting out as an overweight non-runner.
Very happy for someone with better maths to correct me!

I have applied via the ballot 10 times and never ever got a place
how are people doing it 2 or 5 or 8 times ??? are you all on GFA places or do you fundraise every year ?
It annoys me that some people get a place every yr and others never

I think it all depends on your personality and what you enjoy about running. We're told London is great but I didn't enjoy it. Too many people, too loud and too much tarmac. I enjoy running on my own over the trails and cliffs so why I thought I'd enjoy it I don't know. Obvious with hindsight. However if you like people and noise/ action and a flat route, then you'd probably love it.

What I will say is that London is amazing for fundraising as everyone else holds the view that it is something special. And that was my main goal the last time I ran it. And I don't regret running it, just found it very psychologically difficult. Very happy to leave future places open to others!

plus just looked at GFA times and i would never get there, yet i train in a focused and dedicated way, i am just not a fast runner. It doesn't matter how much or what i try i have never got my half time down to under 2:20 and would never get at below 4 hr time for a marathon.
The thing is it doesnt bother me , i love running and i am not bothered that i am slower than some, i do feel the disregard and sometimes contempt for slower runners is a shame.

I agree with Fell runner's post about GFA. I have entered the ballot 10 times and all rejections. I have done a couple of road marathons a while back (I generally prefer trail marathons and ultras) but have never really trained hard enough or run well. But the lack of London place any other way means I have entered Manchester for next April, given up alcohol, and planning to give it my best shot for a GFA.

Theredjellybean I suspect those who have done it multiple times have GFA times. I don't have a problem with that - I do think it should remain a race for serious runners as well as charity and ballot places

I've run London marathon 4 times. I've had a club place once and 2 GFA places....I actually can't remember how the 4th time occurred. I didn't do it for charity.
I hope to get a GFA place in 2024, fitness permitting
London marathon GFA places are one of the few instances where imo women have an advantage over men. The men's times seem far harder to achieve.

www.marathondumedoc.com/en/

this was my best race EVER !!!

Although I have run on gfa places, I do think it's unfair that a lot of good and committed runners lose out. I think a lot of non runners enter because they see the party atmosphere on a sunny spring day without thinking of the long hard training runs over the winter. I almost think it would be fairer to submit a time from a half marathon to show that you're committed to the training. Several of my friends from a running club - several who are ultra runners (so not afraid of long runs) have been unsuccessful in the ballot 10 or 15 times.

I have entered Manchester for next April, given up alcohol, and planning to give it my best shot for a GFA

Oh god luck! Have you done Manchester before? IME it's a great shout for GFA. Properly fast and flat and not so busy you end up running far more than 26.2.

And @Theredjellybean I'm certainly not saying GFA is easy. It's really bloody hard. But, statistically, what I'm wondering if the chances of running GFA on years and years of focused training are more than 1 in 20 (ie the ballot odds). In my experience they are, though that's not to disregard those runners for whom it remains out of reach.

And as great as fundraising is, I also think it's a good thing that London still attracts serious runners through GFA and Championship places, rather than just being a charity fun run.