London Marathon 2013

Brianderunner

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I'm Ryanairing into Gatwick. I normally go Stansted but it's twice the price. They say it's only 30 minutes away from Central London but friends have advised me otherwise. Anyone else flying in there or have flown in to there before? It's no big deal really. It's not like I'm flying in on the morning of the race.

Flown into all the airports countless times at this stage;

Heathrow - slog of a tube journey to town, even worse for the expo, try to avoid it. Get an oyster card or a day travelcard if you fly there cause you'll be fleeced if you buy a single. Deffo don't get the Heathrow Express, unless you like paying over the odds.

Stansted - not the best to fly into tbh as its the furthest away from London. National express have a £5 bus if you book in advance in to Stratford in 45 mins if you fancy saving a bit of cash. Handy to get to the expo from there. Stansted Express to Liverpool St is a ripoff.

Luton - Similar to Stansted, good bit out from town. 30 min train costing £14 ish will take you to St Pancras which is well connected but you have to get a bus from the airport to the train station (about a mile or so away)

Gatwick - As Rk said First Capital Connect and Southern trains are the best option here. Gatwick would be my No. 1 choice if i flew from ireland. You can get to the expo handy enough from London Bridge via the Jubilee line. Again avoid the Gatwick Express, its £20 or so, with the FCC or Southern costing £9-10.

London City - Best located for those doing the marathon (expo is under the landing path) but flights are just too expensive for it to be a viable option.

wideball

I'm flying Aer Lingus to Gatwick on the Friday afternoon and going straight to the expo to get that out of the way. Flying back late on Monday evening. Flights cost me €90 that I booked in November last. I'm going to be staying with friends (Battersea) so all sorted except the training at this stage...;)

RubyK

I booked flights ex Dublin to London City Airport Fri afternoon, going to go to the expo and stay at the Docklands Fri night, and head to the Strand Palace Saturday morning. Flying back through Gatwick on Monday lunchtime.

Krusty_Clown

Flying Aer Lingus to Gatwick on Friday, @11:30am and staying with relatives on the outskirts of London that night. May go to the expo that day if it's handy enough to get to from Gatwick? Will be staying in the Lancaster Hotel beside Hyde Park (around 3 miles from the Coal Hole, which looks good!), from Saturday to Tuesday. I'm tired of travelling home in agony (marathon and drink related), so staying an extra day..

RacoonQueen

Lex Luther wrote: »

Hi I havent posted in a long long time......hope everyone's training is going very well as the dreaded long runs start to loom closer..
I had booked myself into Strand Palace too ( £162 euro for room with no breakfast and no room) so it looks like there will be a Boards take over that week-end !

Racoon Queen I think there are a couple more of us from the club staying here also....

I havent booked flights yet ...where are people flying to ?
LL

Cheers. Didn't realise there where more doing it. Have an apartment booked but might change to the hotel so.

Planning on doing Friday to Monday myself. Hotel is slightly more expensive than my apartment though. :pac:

rainbow kirby wrote: »

It's 30 mins on the Gatwick Express to Victoria - Ryanair will try and sell you tickets for this during the flight, it's not worth it. If you get a bog standard FCC or Southern train with few stops en route, you'll be at London Bridge in about 40 minutes from Gatwick, and it's a lot cheaper.

Sooooo book Gatwick? Checked out flights to Heatrow the other day and they were reasonable..

Edit: Actually that hotel if pretty expensive compared to the hotel I have

Pronator

I'm flying in on the Saturday morning to Gatwick and back home on the Monday. Should be up for few scoops after the race. Pity TRR is not going as I could have had a few cans of Dutch gold with him before going into the pub;)

Looks like I am staying about a mile from the pub, within stubbling distance anyways:D

Just have to do the training now fcuk:eek:

Marthastew

Short but (hopefully) sweet visit to London for me, I'm flying sans Mr Stew and sans enfants:)
Flying into City on Saturday morning so I can head straight to the expo. I'm staying with friends in Richmond on Saturday night so it'll be a hike to the start and I've just booked the StrandBoards Palace for Sunday night and I head home lunchtime Monday from Heathrow.

REALLY looking forward to this marathon.

Anyone who downloads podcasts for LSRs should check out Marathon talk on iTunes, as it's an English show they're pretty much focused on London when discussing this year's Spring marathons, some good tips and they will really hype things up when April rolls round.

Very, very best of luck to everyone with their training over the next few months

EauRouge79

Much the same for me. Pretty much a flying visit. Into Heathrow for 9am Saturday and straight to the expo, back Monday afternoon. I assume with a sore head!:)
1st time travelling to a marathon on my lonesome....sniff sniff

Have half a notion to get to a football match on Saturday afternoon if anybody fancied it. Just a thought..

TRR

Pronator wrote: »

I'm flying in on the Saturday morning to Gatwick and back home on the Monday. Should be up for few scoops after the race. Pity TRR is not going as I could have had a few cans of Dutch gold with him before going into the pub;)

Looks like I am staying about a mile from the pub, within stubbling distance anyways:D

Just have to do the training now fcuk:eek:

Ha ha, the coal hole was a great pub for a meet up after the race last year, not too far from the finish although it took me a while to hobble up there McDonald's was next door as well so I consumed about 5000 calories in there as well. I broke the bank and was drinking cans of fosters in her Majesty's garden last year, the surroundings were too grand for the Dutch gold.

I flew over on Saturday last year myself and it worked out perfectly, however I was lucky in that shels4ever collected my number for me on the Friday so I avoided the expo. If you can do similar I'd definitely recommend this as reduces expo stress.

Best of luck to you all, hope training goes well. It's a super marathon.

Pronator

EauRouge79 wrote: »

Much the same for me. Pretty much a flying visit. Into Heathrow for 9am Saturday and straight to the expo, back Monday afternoon. I assume with a sore head!:)
1st time travelling to a marathon on my lonesome....sniff sniff

Have half a notion to get to a football match on Saturday afternoon if anybody fancied it. Just a thought..

I had the same idea but I'm sure the wife and child would have something to say about that.

Unfortunately the champions of Europe are away that weekend plus I'd be stuck for time what with getting to the expo too.....

EauRouge79

Pronator wrote: »

I had the same idea but I'm sure the wife and child would have something to say about that.
QUOTE]

Trust me if wife and child were travelling with me, I wouldnt be found at a football ground either.

psychozeb

Flying from Cork to Heathrow on the saturday morning,and flying out again sunday evening at 18:15.around €110 for flights and went a bit mad and booked the crowne plaza st.james near buckingham palace for £160 which is cheap considering at the moment cheapest room there is £396 for a night!

RubyK

For those of you who have run London before, what's next to come in the post from the organisers? Anything important that needs to be signed/sent back to them/brought to the Expo? I was using my cousins address in London, but she's now moved back home. Her housemates are still there, I'm sure they would forward on post to me, so I'm just wondering if something important is being posted out and needs to returned asap , so I can let them know.

Hope the training is going well for everyone

Brianderunner

A letter comes about 3/4 weeks before the race. You need to bring this to the expo to get your number.

RubyK

Brianderunner wrote: »

A letter comes about 3/4 weeks before the race. You need to bring this to the expo to get your number.

Thanks Brian, will let them know so.

Brianderunner

Great stuff

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/news-and-media/news-and-media/press-release-25-01-13-best-ever-field-assembled-2/

Younganne

Brianderunner wrote: »

Great stuff

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/news-and-media/news-and-media/press-release-25-01-13-best-ever-field-assembled-2/

Im very disappointed, they seemed to have left my name off the list

ThePiedPiper

Some serious heads doing the race this year. Was planning a half-marathon that day but might have to cancel to tune in on the Beeb.

robinph

Younganne wrote: »

Im very disappointed, they seemed to have left my name off the list

Knew I should have saved the spoof videos they had last year with Dave Bedford chatting about the marathon whilst your name would appear in the popup "news flash" bits around the video claiming that you were the number one marathon star for last years London.

The site seems to have disappeared now.

G-Money

Brianderunner wrote: »

Great stuff

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/news-and-media/news-and-media/press-release-25-01-13-best-ever-field-assembled-2/

Bit of a shoddy line-up there

EauRouge79

Wow, guess ill have to re-assess my goals so. Maybe top 20 instead of top 15.

RacoonQueen

Flights booked. At last. Into Heatrow Friday 12pm out Monday afternoon.

Krusty_Clown

No chatter going on, in this thread, but I presume (unlike the Rotterdam and Boston threads) that's because we're all just too busy training.

With just over 7 weeks remaining, how is everyone doing?
Anyone know what kind of nutrition is available on the course?
Should we be getting anything in the post any time soon that 'I' should be watching out for?

ecoli

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

No chatter going on, in this thread, but I presume (unlike the Rotterdam and Boston threads) that's because we're all just too busy training.

They are out getting there "is Mo still behind me?" t shirts printed

Lex Luther

Yes KC guess we're all head down and focused on the end zone (though personally I was also just stunned into silence by your Donadea performance).....all going well so far for me, this week-ends half in Meath will be a good test of exactly how well ( or perhaps a horrible wake up call)..
Hope everyone's training is going well and that everyone is healthy and loose ...starting to count down the remaining long runs , Taper cant come soon enough..
I think we're supposed to get our registration cards in mid March ...
Anyone got any interest in starting a roll-call / target time list just to psyche ourselves out ?
Lex

robinph

I'm hoping for a can of London Pride in the goodie bag again, although this year I hope it doesn't burst in the baggage truck. Have just got my train tickets booked, will be aiming for and early arrival at the Expo on the Saturday and then back to the hotel to checkin and chill out for the rest of the day.

As per normal I'm not doing enough miles...but still more than I've done in previous attempts.

EauRouge79

Looking forward to the big day myself.
Just need to get more disciplined in March, need 4 good long runs. Mileage is always my downfall, i was always a "less is more" advocate as I was happy with my progression but am begining to think maybe "more is more" and maybe i should be making bigger improvements....blah blah blah.

Hope everyone remains injury free and on course.

KielyUnusual

It's getting to crunch time alright. The next few weeks of training will have a big say on how we get on. Really looking forward to it now. The announcement of the elite field and the whole Mo issue has really added to the sense of occasion for the event.
Regarding your question on nutrition KC. The website seems very scant on information regarding this. Actually for such a big event, the website is generally pretty piss poor. I'd be interested if anyone has any past experience from the event? I've always grabbed a gel near the end when I've run Dublin. I presume they hand them out in London too but you'd never know.

wideball

Currently into week 2 of foot stress fracture, so no running. Hoping to be back by Paddys weekend.. Which will leave me some time to get some miles in and see where I'm at. I usually only go for a 10 day taper.

Provided I'm back by Paddys I'm not stressing (pardon pun) too much about it as I'd a lot done prior to the break (cause and effect!) and the cross training (bike/aqua running) will leave me fitter than before the break. Question is the running leg strength/speed but I'm optimistic...

Missing the Meath Half though on Sunday which I was really looking forward too.

Hope everyone has a good March, it's getting close now.

village runner

From my memory luc sport every 5 miles at least starting at 5 miles. In the Fgfa you can get a years supply for your bag. Gels 14 and 21 as far as I rem and luc sport ones. Ain't as strong as power bar but do Thr trick. Water at every mile in little bottles.luc sport is in orange 330 ml but I have seen cherry(maybe I am losing it here) there is a runners world stand at 17 miles that u hand in stuff for Thr day and give a time you will reach it at but seems to dodgy to me. Clock at every mile so a pace band is ideal.

My training is starting to come together. Quiet a lot of stamina but little speed. Recent 41 min 10k followed 2 weeks later by A39 min 10km is where I am at. Hoping that with 7 weeks to go last year I was able to match my 10 mile pace in the marathon. Time will tell. After running injured for 8 months I am just happy to be running pain free. Will be disappointed if I don't breAk 3 but I ain't there yet based on 10k time.