London 2014

tHE vAGGABOND

In the ballot for 3rd year in a row, I will get in one day

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

I've gone and entered both ballots for all the use it will do me!
Boston remains my goal race though so if I fail to get a BQ this summer then I will hope to get in to London through one of the ballots.



I'll still be going for 3:10 in Portumna anyways Niall.

3:09:xx will not get you into Boston next year, so I doubt I'll be doing portumna now. No point...

Cabaal

entered.......lets see if I can get an entry this time around

Trampas

I am in for the ballot

ncmc

I made a total muck of entering, forgot all about it until first thing this morning, was half asleep and put my relatives address in wrong. Had the wrong postcode for her and only realised my mistake after I'd hit send. Looks like GFA is my only hope!

Does anyone know what the odds are of getting an entry via the ballot? Would be interested to know how many places there are versus entries received.

robinph

Think its something like 15,000 places for the ballot and 60,000 apply before they close it. (numbers just based on guesses from what I've heard mentioned in commentary etc before)

belcarra

menoscemo wrote: »

3:09:xx will not get you into Boston next year, so I doubt I'll be doing portumna now. No point...

I'm sure there will be more demand for Boston in 2014 but the official limit is still 3:09:59 so I'll still be going for that. Come Sept and registration opens it may well not get me qualified but if you're not in you certainly can't win!
Who knows, maybe an extra couple of minutes might come off 3:10 on a good day in Portumna and that might be enough...?

Anyhow, enough cross-pollinating of London with Boston!

robinph

From the VLM bookface:

Good for age times have become easier in four male categories and harder in one male and one female category. The change has been bought about due to increased numbers within the good for age category.

We had to wait until we could analyse this year’s Virgin London Marathon times in order to determine what the new qualification could be.

The new categories are now split evenly across the same age groups for men and women. Click here for more information about good for age times. http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/marathon-centre/enter-virgin-london-marathon/good-for-age-entries/

That is great that they have had to make the womens times faster as it suggests that they have more women making the grade. I guess they have less older age group times being done now if they have softened them for the oldies though. The way they split the ages previously was a bit strange though so that will have had an effect.

Cabaal

Ballot is now closed, good luck to everyone who entered it

plodder

robinph wrote: »

Think its something like 15,000 places for the ballot and 60,000 apply before they close it. (numbers just based on guesses from what I've heard mentioned in commentary etc before)

from what I remember the overseas ballot is a lot smaller (only 5,000 allowed into it IIRC). Never heard how many actual places are given out though.

robinph

plodder wrote: »

from what I remember the overseas ballot is a lot smaller (only 5,000 allowed into it IIRC). Never heard how many actual places are given out though.

Saw on the bookface posts after it closed that they leave it open until 125,000 entries. That makes for very slim chances of getting a place.

plodder

robinph wrote: »

Saw on the bookface posts after it closed that they leave it open until 125,000 entries. That makes for very slim chances of getting a place.

That must be the total number for both ballots I presume??

robinph

plodder wrote: »

That must be the total number for both ballots I presume??

I think the international ballot can basically be ignored as a viable way of ever entering London if the stats on "residency" in the media guide are accurate. That suggested that there was only about 300 non-UK residents in this years event.

plodder

robinph wrote: »

I think the international ballot can basically be ignored as a viable way of ever entering London if the stats on "residency" in the media guide are accurate. That suggested that there was only about 300 non-UK residents in this years event.

So, if it was limited to 5000, that would still be only 1 in 16 of a chance. Not great all right.

Clearlier

.

Brianderunner

Hate to pour cold water here but its about a 1 in 7 or 8 chance to get into the UK ballot and a 1 in 50 or so chance to get in thru the international one. Thats what i've always heard and sounds about right.

neilc

menoscemo wrote: »

3:09:xx will not get you into Boston next year, so I doubt I'll be doing portumna now. No point...

Maybe, maybe not. Rumour has it they're going to open it up to a lot more people next year like they did on the centenary in 1996. Saying that I'm 4:32 up on qualifying time and am afraid I'm not going to get in either! Has been my goal since I started running!

carlton36

Can anyone please advise on how you prove your qualifying time in the GFA entry?

Will it make a difference that a screenshot from my Dublin marathon result shows that I'm "From IRL" ?:D

Or is it based on residency as discussed above? Thanks

irfrm

quick question, is it your official finishing time or chip time that is used for GFA.

robinph

carlton36 wrote: »

Can anyone please advise on how you prove your qualifying time in the GFA entry?

Will it make a difference that a screenshot from my Dublin marathon result shows that I'm "From IRL" ?:D

Or is it based on residency as discussed above? Thanks

It's based on residency, and that is "proved" just by using a UK address on the application forms. Print out the DCM certificate and a photocopy of your passport and that is all you need.

robinph

irfrm wrote: »

quick question, is it your official finishing time or chip time that is used for GFA.

Chip time if available from the marathon that you ran.

carlton36

robinph wrote: »

It's based on residency, and that is "proved" just by using a UK address on the application forms. Print out the DCM certificate and a photocopy of your passport and that is all you need.

Thanks! I wasn't aware of the 'certificate' on the DCM site previously.

robinph

Just on reading a few of the reports from boardsies on this years London Marathon I figured I should point out a common error in them now in the vain hope that you guys get it right next year.

London Bridge:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g31262-d103158-Reviews-London_Bridge-Lake_Havasu_City_Arizona.html

This bridge is in Arizona... Arizona is in the USA... this is not part of the London Marathon course.

Tower Bridge:

This bridge is in London and is just before the half way point of the London Marathon, you may have also seen a helicopter fly through it in the Olympic opening ceremony with James Bond and the Queen on board.

Krusty_Clown

To be fair, some of us were too busy running and didn't have time for sightseeing. Besides, given that we're all UK residents, it's probably just our colloquial name for the bridge.

Peckham

There's a London Bridge in London too. Next one along the river going west from Tower Bridge. Next to train station of same name.

robinph

Peckham wrote: »

There's a London Bridge in London too. Next one along the river going west from Tower Bridge. Next to train station of same name.

Yep, but it's just as dull a bridge as the one they shipped over to Arizona. Tower Bridge always takes me by surprise, your running along through a boring residential area and then you turn a corner and the crowd goes mental and there is the big towers looming infront of you which you'd not got a glimpse of during the previous 12 miles.

RacoonQueen

I do not remember running over a bridge...

pistol_75

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I do not remember running over a bridge...

You were still in the zone at that stage ;-)

tHE vAGGABOND

My nephew tells me London Bridge is falling down, so it wont be a factor next year

robinph

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

My nephew tells me London Bridge is falling down, so it wont be a factor next year

Why do you think we sold it to the yanks?