Day off today to do lots of catching up. It’s also the day the Virgin London Marathon ballot results start coming out. And sure enough...’thunk’...through the letter box it came, a magazine that said ‘Sorry’ on the front cover (together with a picture of a man dressed as cheese) and a very nice, very comfy winter running top. Almost worth not getting in for the top tbh 😁
I always said that the VLM would be my only marathon, and, after struggling to still do a HM, I definitely stand by that. However, I am going to sign up for the Shakespeare Half as soon as I can, which happens on the same day as the VLM and will give me something to aim for over the winter.
Any news from any other balloteers? Good luck to you all!! 🤞🤞🤞
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TailChaser
Marathon
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Once more than me then I suspect. I enjoyed the EMF 5k this year and am entered for the 10k next year. They are hilly courses though: the marathon and half are flat after a downhill start.
That running top is a real bonus tailchaser- almost worth applying for a place next year . I’d hate to be accepted though as a Marathon is definitely a step too far for me.
It’s very nice Dexy. It’s midnight blue with pale blue flashes down the side and cuffings (I love cuffings!). Nice and cosy, not too brilliant to be seen in on a dark night, but nice and cosy on a winter’s day.
I know what you mean though, doing the HM training really opened my eyes to how tough it is. I’m only a parkrun away from an HM but that’s hard enough and I was getting worried about pushing myself further. It seems a long way away but it’s not really.
After running my HM recently, there was no chance on this earth that I could have doubled that distance - or even run another step! My legs almost fell off! 😩😅
Yes Sandie - no luck for me either. I’m secretly relieved actually! I might enter again for 2021, but for now HM and below will be absolutely plenty. 😀
Thanks Stephen, tbh it’s a strange mixture of disappointment and relief. I am actually really looking forward to taking part in the Shakespeare Half now as it’s freed me up, and then I’ll know if I’m capable of trying again 👍
Dexy, you don’t know how relieved I am I didn’t get a place in reality! I’d have done it if I’d been successful, but think how long I’d have been out there. A lone soul snailing away on the streets of London! 😅
Ian Beale running it this year is my incentive! And the lady who came last (Kerrie Aldridge) is making such a brilliant positive statement from it, she’s amazing!
Ah yes, I’ve heard he’s a Warwickshire lad. I keep looking at him when I watch Eastenders trying to get my head around the idea. Maybe I’m being unfair but...🤔
I have a place and I think I’d have rather been saying...oh well I applied but wasn’t successful!!! Anyway this is it now. 3 days before my 63rd Birthday I’m walking London!! Hope the street cleaners are a little kinder next year!! 😂🤣💕
Ooo how exciting CC! Great to hear from someone who’s been successful. Wow, I bet you can’t wait! We look forward to hearing all about how your training goes. Good luck with it! 😀
Fantastic Candy! Well done! Great to hear of a success on here.
I think they will be much more careful next year, and you will have such brilliant support the miles will just whizz by. It will be a wonderful adventure. 👏👏👏. All the best with your training 👍
I was thinking of a Half Marathon, yes if you did it that way for 42 kilometers, 26 miles, a full marathon, that would be like running EIGHT parkruns in one day, nevertheless it might be a good idea to to run for 5K, walk for 1 and so on until the end.
Snap - mine has just dropped. The top is very nice isn’t it?
I’ve got mixed feelings on not getting in. Would have been a great experience and given me a real focus, but it is a lot of training so there is a relief too that I can stick to my less disciplined approach and perhaps do a half somewhere instead.
There’s a little brochure in there for the Edinburgh marathon that I’m a bit tempted by. Otherwise there’s always next year 😀
The Edinburgh half is on the same course as the marathon except when you pass the finish at nine miles it’s a four mile out and back by the seaside rather than seventeen!
A run by the seaside is quite tempting. Quite a way to travel for me though so if I were to do it I’d go for the full marathon. More likely I’ll try a half closer to home in the Midlands.
Someone once told me the way to make a really tough decision is to toss a coin - but not to wait for it to land. While it’s still in the air you suddenly know what you’re hoping for, so do that!
Sorry you didn’t get it this year. People all over the Facebook running groups have been posting that they failed this year. I was lucky to get Oxford half as that is balloted too now as so many people want to do it. When you see 27,000 runners doing Cardiff half it makes you realise how popular these long races are becoming. I hope you get in for 2021
That’s very true. It is astoundingly popular this year, it would have just been a good year for it but tbh I don’t think I’m ready anyway. My Two Castles Run 10k was balloted too and I was very lucky to get a place for that first time. That will do me for this year 😊
I saw there were supposed to be over 27,000 but only 20,400 completed. So not sure if lots didn’t start, didn’t finish or they made the numbers up!!
It was a lot of people but it never felt squashed or frantic. It didn’t frighten the bejezzers out of me like the start of the Padstow to Rock swim, which was a nightmare.
That's good. i wondered what it was like running round with so many other people. The races I've done have spread out into the landscape pretty quickly.
There are so many amazing places to do a marathon; I have to say London would be last on my list. I was actually tempted by a 6 day event in The Azores and the Wooler trail run in Northumberland in Nov. But no, I prefer my solo non event events! 👍🏻😁
The Azores sound nice but maybe a little hot. Nope, I’m a Londoner so London it has to be! One day... I think you have the perfect surroundings for your runs JoJo!
I think that’s my take on it too. I live here (for better or for worse...) so I’d like to do the marathon, just once.
I fully expected not to get in though, so I’m doing the London Winter Run (10k) in February with a friend for landmarks fun. Now I’ll look properly for an alternative FM (there’s a new one on the Norfolk coast I fancied but I took my eye off the ball and it’s full) - though I’m tempted to ‘do a Jo Jo’ too in the meantime. 20 miles, 26 miles... I mean how hard can it be. 😉 (Joking)
An entertaining read, if a little tiresomely macho at points. I liked this bit:
“(Commiserations on not getting in on the ballot again this year by the way. Probably best to stop trying as it’s been 6 years now. It’s unlikely to happen and you’re not getting any younger)”
They're all turn offs for me really! I can't think of much worse... but on the odd occasion I do look into one or two more closely... then retreat back into my bubble! 🙈🤣
Oh no... that actually makes me feel ill 🙈 I looked (again) at my closest PR but they have an average of 350 runners so I found another circa 80 that _might_ go on the possible list! 🤣🙈
Gosh that makes me sound bad doesn't it!? I'm fine really when in any situation, I just avoid putting myself in them! 🤣
No, honestly it doesn’t! I’d only do it in a race or Parkrun JoJo. I don’t like training with too many (er..1 or 2 more to be exact 😂) but in a race it’s a great distraction and keeps me relaxed (amazingly for an overly anxious person who doesn’t like crowds much 😂). I think it really helps that we’re all going in the same direction 🤣
Oh well, me neither. Probably a good thing, I’d be running from dawn-dusk! I agree with you though TC, it’s the only marathon I’d ever want to do, so I might enter the ballot again next year. I’ll concentrate on HM and below for now. 😀👍🏃♀️
Oh that’s a shame, I really thought you’d get a place and we could have come to cheer you on! You’ll get there one year I’m sure, there has been an amazing number of applications this year.
Mind you Katnap still hasn’t heard yet so we may well still be going to London (which means I’d better try and stop myself applying for this Half just yet!).
There’s quite an assortment on the London Marathon Facebook page cheeky. The ‘You have been successful’ magazine has a picture of someone dressed as Bender from Futurama (probably much hotter to run in than cheese!). Nail biting continues here...
Bad luck Tailchaser. I was unsuccessful too; although it was probably a bit much to hope for after getting through the GNR ballot first time of asking, I have to admit I feel more disappointed than I expected to. Maybe it’s because I came home to the pack after a run! 😊
I’ll have to think carefully what to do. I don’t think I can face all the fundraising (I’ve seen from friends how stressful it is) but I’m at a point where I really want to push on to a full marathon next year while I’m fit and healthy. This autumn’s races have come just a bit too early. Hmmmm.
I know what you mean about the fundraising. I didn’t a charity place as I didn’t want the extra pressure. The charity I was going to run for only had one place available anyway but also like you it would be good to do a marathon whilst I think I’d be able to. I’m going to do the Shakespeare Half for them and then see how next year goes and decide from there whether to try again. Well done getting the GNR place, that took some doing in itself!
I didn't get glastonbury tickets ? Does that count. Bad luck, can you still go for s charity place ? One day I'd like to do the beachy head marathon......one day in the future
I think so Snuffy! I think the odds are even higher for Glastonbury aren’t they? I could go for a charity place but I was running for a very personal reason for a particular charity (that only had one place that I didn’t get!) so I’m going to do a HM for the same charity instead.
Beachy Head looks tough, but it’s so beautiful around there I don’t blame you!
Nothing here at the moment - third year of trying. Like you, I'm not quite sure how I'd feel if I got in! I remember completing my first Half and thinking, 'Blimey - a marathon is running that all over again!'😮 London would be a once in a lifetime opportunity but probably the only one that I would ever do!
You never know, third time lucky and all that. I think it will be different for the London as the crowds would pull you along for that second half push. I don’t have a huge amount of experience of races yet but I always find the cheering really spurs me on. The atmosphere is supposed to be second to none and that’s another reason why, like you, it’s the only one I’d do too!
I got mine too today. Mixed feelings as well - slight relief as the Wimpole HM I did yesterday with Madge50 was really tough, and the thought of doing twice the distance with how my psoas feel right now scares me! On the other hand, I’d like to be able to do a marathon and the VLM would’ve been a great way to tick that box. The running top looks nice, so might think about fundraising for a place, or looking for a less popular marathon?
Looks like you need to collect your badge Dave! Well done on your HM 👍 I know what you mean but I really think the crowds will get you through at the VLM like no other marathon. The top is lovely but way too warm to wear at the moment (I was going to wear it on my run tonight but I’m glad I didn’t). Good luck with your decision 🤞
Ah, I have exactly the same magazine and a top. My first. My OH has his 10th! Lucky for him he’s managed to get on through the running club ballot a couple of times in previous years. Edinburgh sounds a good alternative, but takes more organising with childcare for us southerners!
Feeling a bit disappointed, but there’s other events in the pipeline. GSR in less than 2 weeks, then a couple of halfs either side of Christmas will keep me busy. I’ll be lining the streets rather than running them in April.☹️🏃♀️
My first too Katie. I hope you and your OH are able to run it together one day. VLM logistics and organisation would have been on a par with Edinburgh for us but I’m only really prepared to make that amount of effort for VLM!
There are lots on this forum doing the GSR, so you’ll be in fine company. Hope it goes well 🤞👍
I enter every year, and every year I dont get in is a mixture of disappointment and relief. I, like you, have often said that the VLM would be my one and only marathon. Although I will only enter the ballot one more time, and if it doesn't happen either set my sites closer to home, or leave that stone unturned.
Hard luck Tailchaser. It really is a lottery though isn’t it? I’ve hardly seen any posts yet from people who have got a place. The Shakespeare half sounds lovely as a consolation
I think so Sandie. There’s plenty of successful entrants on the London Marathon Support Facebook page but it’s pretty quiet here. I’m guessing the first wave of responses has gone out but there may be more tomorrow, it would be nice to see someone who’s had success on here 🤞
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