London 2015

menoscemo

RubyK wrote: »

Do you need to bring the acceptance form which was sent out last October, when collecting race no. from the expo? Or is there another form being posted out with the final instructions next month (my acceptance form has gone missing :eek:).

Another one will be sent out about 3 weeks before the race. You have to sign it and bring it to the expo to collect your number.

RubyK

menoscemo wrote: »

Another one will be sent out about 3 weeks before the race. You have to sign it and bring it to the expo to collect your number.

Thanks menoscemo!

robinph

menoscemo wrote: »

Another one will be sent out about 3 weeks before the race. You have to sign it and bring it to the expo to collect your number.

And you'll need photo ID with you as well, so don't be leaving the passport in the hotel room when you travel to the expo.

RubyK

robinph wrote: »

And you'll need photo ID with you as well, so don't be leaving the passport in the hotel room when you travel to the expo.

Thanks robinph, I couldn't remember exactly what the process was last time I ran it, will be going to the expo straight away, when we get to London.

Brianderunner

rom wrote: »

Looking at the Heathrow express from Friday to Monday its like 70 pounds return for 2 of us (not each). Is seems that it would take about 30 mins with the tube. Tube says it taking about 45 mins to Charing cross. Any recommendations or way to get the Heathrow express cheaper? 35 pounds for 15 mins each way on a train is crazy 48 euro

Get the tube, the Heathrow Express is a total rip off and leaves you in Paddington which isn't the most central. Clever advertising cons so many people into going into London that way paying 5 or 6 times more than the tube costs.

Contactless debit cards now work on the transport for London network, just scan it on the yellow circle. They charge you the same as an oyster fare. Irish debit cards work too I've tried it.

If you don't have contactless get an oyster card as soon as you get to Heathrow Tube station and load about 20 quid onto it, that will probably cover you for the weekend. Single cash fares cost double what oyster costs. Heathrow and LCY are the only 2 oyster zone airports in London, you will have to get a separate national rail train ticket from the others.

Get the Southern or Thameslink train from Gatwick to London Bridge for half the price of the Gatwick Express on the day and the Stansted express is half price if you book it 7 days in advance and you don't have to pick the train you go on.

rom

Brianderunner wrote: »

Get the tube, the Heathrow Express is a total rip off and leaves you in Paddington which isn't the most central. Clever advertising cons so many people into going into London that way paying 5 or 6 times more than the tube costs.

Contactless debit cards now work on the transport for London network, just scan it on the yellow circle. They charge you the same as an oyster fare. Irish debit cards work too I've tried it.

If you don't have contactless get an oyster card as soon as you get to Heathrow Tube station and load about 20 quid onto it, that will probably cover you for the weekend. Single cash fares cost double what oyster costs. Heathrow and LCY are the only 2 oyster zone airports in London, you will have to get a separate national rail train ticket from the others.

Get the Southern or Thameslink train from Gatwick to London Bridge for half the price of the Gatwick Express on the day and the Stansted express is half price if you book it 7 days in advance and you don't have to pick the train you go on.

I have only got the express when work pay for it. The tube doesn't seem too long. Just hope that their ain't works that weekend also. Yeah will get two oyster cards.

rom

I have seen this
http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/london-visitor-oyster-card/

Don't go to london much so this would be best as they can post it so no hassle when I arrive in heathrow.

RubyK

rom wrote: »

I have seen this
http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/london-visitor-oyster-card/

Don't go to london much so this would be best as they can post it so no hassle when I arrive in heathrow.

That's a handy tip, thanks!

Hope everyones training is going well. Mine was, until Saturdays 18 miler, where the wheels fell off when my old tfl/psoas issues came back with a bang, off to the physio this evening, hoping he can sort me out.

gearoidol

Hi all,

travelling to London with sports tours ,anyone who has ran before any advice on how to get a good start , I am hoping for sub 3 and was just wondering is it very slow going the first few miles or can you make progress?

I have not ran sub 3 before so I will be starting from the normal start position

robinph

Hopefully you are put in an early start pen, but being in anything other than the GFA or Championship starts you are going to have a few thousand people infront of you when the gun goes whatever happens. It will be crowded at the start, do not get too worried about it and don't try dodging around the crowd as you'll trip on a kerb at worst, or at best just wear yourself out with frustration. At about 2 miles it will start to thin out a bit as the road gets wider, but then it will get crowded again as the two starts merge on a downhill section. It will also become slow around Cutty Sark at 6 miles.

Still do not panic. At worst you'll have lost a couple of seconds from potentially grinding to a halt/ walk at that point, stay chilled out and then gradually pick it up again. There are no more choke points along the way after that and you just have nice wide open roads to run along from there to the finish.

You will have a lot of people to overtake to get the sub 3 as there will be lots of people infront of you at the start who are slower. Remember that there is 26 miles to get past them though and you do not need to overtake them all in the first 100 meters. The roads are great from 3 miles on (ignoring the bit at 6, but that is worth slowing down for just to take in the crowd noise there).



Not aimed at anyone in particular, but DO NOT wear headphones for London Marathon. There is way more motivation out on the streets shouting at you than you could ever get from listening to an mp3.

gearoidol

robinph wrote: »

Hopefully you are put in an early start pen, but being in anything other than the GFA or Championship starts you are going to have a few thousand people infront of you when the gun goes whatever happens. It will be crowded at the start, do not get too worried about it and don't try dodging around the crowd as you'll trip on a kerb at worst, or at best just wear yourself out with frustration. At about 2 miles it will start to thin out a bit as the road gets wider, but then it will get crowded again as the two starts merge on a downhill section. It will also become slow around Cutty Sark at 6 miles.

Still do not panic. At worst you'll have lost a couple of seconds from potentially grinding to a halt/ walk at that point, stay chilled out and then gradually pick it up again. There are no more choke points along the way after that and you just have nice wide open roads to run along from there to the finish.

You will have a lot of people to overtake to get the sub 3 as there will be lots of people infront of you at the start who are slower. Remember that there is 26 miles to get past them though and you do not need to overtake them all in the first 100 meters. The roads are great from 3 miles on (ignoring the bit at 6, but that is worth slowing down for just to take in the crowd noise there).



Not aimed at anyone in particular, but DO NOT wear headphones for London Marathon. There is way more motivation out on the streets shouting at you than you could ever get from listening to an mp3.

thanks for that,

is it a case that 7 or 8 min miling might not be possible at mile 1 - 2 ?

robinph

gearoidol wrote: »

is it a case that 7 or 8 min miling might not be possible at mile 1 - 2 ?

Probably not going to be able to hit your exact target for the first couple of miles, but just keep an eye on how much you lost at the start. You'll not be loosing a great amount, but you will be able to make it up later on, just don't try to make the time up all in the following mile. Whatever pace you are aiming for though I'd not expect you to be losing as much as a minute a mile, as you will very quickly find yourself in the right pace group, just the numbers mean it will be slower than you planned.

Remember that slower at the start is good.

robinph

So which celebrity are you going to be trying to beat:

https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/news-media/latest-news/item/jenson-button-heads-celebrity-field-for-2015-virgin-money-london-marathon/

Not sure if Jenson is going to be able to run to his full potential as fitting in running specific training around driving cars type training can't be ideal. When I saw his name on the list though I thought that meant he didn't have a drive for this year.

robinph

robinph wrote: »

... full potential as fitting in running specific training around driving cars type training can't be ideal.

Actually scrap that. After having a look through the full list of "celebrities", whilst the majority of them are apparently actors that no one has ever heard of, there are far more motor racing drivers than any other sport. Think I counted 8+ in the list including a motorbike racer, a couple of rowers, a couple of runners and one cyclist and weightlifter.

Sitting on your backside and driving around all day is clearly a good alternative sport for marathoning.

rainbow kirby

Jenson Button is a fairly solid triathlete (sub 2 for an Olympic distance, has finished 11th overall in an IM) so it's hardly surprising to see him on the startline (imo).

robinph

I'm surprised he is being released to be able to do it more than anything. They already have one broken driver in the team with Alonso out for at least the first race. They won't be happy if Button fusses up his legs and then can't climb into the car for the next practice session. Whilst walking down stairs backwards is known to help us mere mortals get around in the week after a marathon, would look a bit odd if Button has to be winched into his car at the next race.

TRR_the_turd

no Nell McAndrew :mad:

kit3

TRR_the_turd wrote: »

no Nell McAndrew :mad:

Just gutted for you - what will be your inspiration now

robinph

kit3 wrote: »

Just gutted for you - what will be your inspiration now

Nells best time was 2:54, he now has to try and beat the first championship entry woman. Last year that was a 2:33, this year it could be a good bit quicker if Paula runs well, or more likely her foot will give out.



I have just noticed in the womens championship results from last year though that one of the local women who I'd generally be around about the same pace as in all distances up to half finished in 2:47. I think I need to pick up my own plans for what pace to run at and stop messing about with ideas of a low 2:50 and go for something quicker.
20 mile race this weekend to test things out in and see what I might be capable of.

robinph

So did a 20 mile race yesterday. Was planning on going out at marathon pace and seeing how I felt and the idea being that would make me confident about the marathon pace when it comes to doing the extra 6.2 on the end. Set the watch for 6:30 (about 2:50'ish) as the idea of 6:18 (about 2:45) scared the bejesus out of me. 6:30 still seemed waaaay too fast to be planning on going at for 26 miles though.

1 mile in and a guy I'd often be racing against for old bloke prizes in other races pulled alongside me and we had a breif chat about what our plans for the day were. I said that I had set the watch to go for about 6:30'ish pace, queue another guy just infront of us turning around and saying "I think you watch is broken". Looked down and saw it was a 5:58 first mile. :eek: Decided to back things off a bit from there

Managed to then keep good pace for the distance and averaged 6:22 for the 20 miles. Was fairly spent towards the end, but I wasn't fully blown to pieces. Keeping that going for a few more miles didn't actually feel too daunting.

Now feeling very good about London. It will be a flatter course, more people to hide behind from wind and rain, less chance of going off like a nutter for the first mile. Feeling relatively confident about properly aiming for a sub 2:50 pace now, not sure if I'm daring enough to go for the 2:45 or not. Could be my last, best chance of doing so, and I'd be annoyed if I did a 2:46. I am 100% capable of running a sub 2:45, I'm not sure if the amount of training is enough for me to be able to blag another time faster than I really should on the volume I do.

TRR_the_turd

robinph wrote: »

Managed to then keep good pace for the distance and averaged 6:22 for the 20 miles. Was fairly spent towards the end, but I wasn't fully blown to pieces. Keeping that going for a few more miles didn't actually feel too daunting.

Now feeling very good about London. It will be a flatter course, more people to hide behind from wind and rain, less chance of going off like a nutter for the first mile. Feeling relatively confident about properly aiming for a sub 2:50 pace now, not sure if I'm daring enough to go for the 2:45 or not. Could be my last, best chance of doing so, and I'd be annoyed if I did a 2:46. I am 100% capable of running a sub 2:45, I'm not sure if the amount of training is enough for me to be able to blag another time faster than I really should on the volume I do.

the great unknown!!!! There's only one way to find out!

davedanon

"Could be my last, best chance of doing so"

How old are you? If you don't mind me asking.

robinph

davedanon wrote: »

"Could be my last, best chance of doing so"

How old are you? If you don't mind me asking.

I'm still only a sprightly 41.

But more significantly I'm only months away from taking up the role of professional nappy changer and associated roles, and I expect that to have a bit of an impact on time management for the next few years. By which point age will certainly have caught up with me. :eek:

rom

robinph wrote: »

I'm still only a sprightly 41.

But more significantly I'm only months away from taking up the role of professional nappy changer and associated roles, and I expect that to have a bit of an impact on time management for the next few years. By which point age will certainly have caught up with me. :eek:

If its the first kid then you will have no issues getting in training. Two is a different thing though. Personally training is hard with a 9 month and 3 year old.

robinph

So, what is the consensus thoughts on the important matters of the day... which pub to meet in afterwards?

Stick with "tradition", and more importantly proximity to The Strand Palace, and go with The Coal Hole. They do food, they do beer, the loos are not up or down any steps but there is limited seating (more if you can climb stairs though).
Or we could strike out to somewhere further afield and go to The Wellington. It's possibly 10meters further from the front door of The Strand Palace, they do food, they do beer, very very limited seating, slightly nearer theatre land so more on that route for non-runner punters on marathon day potentially making it busier, the loos are down stairs. :eek:

davedanon

robinph wrote: »

So, what is the consensus thoughts on the important matters of the day... which pub to meet in afterwards?

Stick with "tradition", and more importantly proximity to The Strand Palace, and go with The Coal Hole. They do food, they do beer, the loos are not up or down any steps but there is limited seating (more if you can climb stairs though).
Or we could strike out to somewhere further afield and go to The Wellington. It's possibly 10meters further from the front door of The Strand Palace, they do food, they do beer, very very limited seating, slightly nearer theatre land so more on that route for non-runner punters on marathon day potentially making it busier, the loos are down stairs. :eek:

Tradition, and uniform floor surfaces, are very important. I say Coal Hole.

TRR_the_turd

robinph wrote: »

So, what is the consensus thoughts on the important matters of the day... which pub to meet in afterwards?

I'd go with the coal hole over the Wellington. But let's not be too hasty in deciding a pub just yet. I'll do a little bit of intel this week and come back with a potential list of 3-4 pubs by the end of the week. We can then have a poll and argue with one another

The current euro to sterling conversion rate may mean I will be sneaking a bag of cans into the pub. Therefore the ability to be out of view of the bar staff may be an important factor for me

davedanon

TRR_the_turd wrote: »

I'd go with the coal hole over the Wellington. But let's not be too hasty in deciding a pub just yet. I'll do a little bit of intel this week and come back with a potential list of 3-4 pubs by the end of the week. We can then have a poll and argue with one another

The current euro to sterling conversion rate may mean I will be sneaking a bag of cans into the pub. Therefore the ability to be out of view of the bar staff may be an important factor for me

Well, first off I'm making a mental note not to be in the vicinity when you get thrown out with your bag of Dutch Gold. Second, I don't think arguing is allowed around here anymore, is it?

robinph

Nothing in the post yet, but warn your various addresses to be on the look out for your registration packs appearing through their letter boxes next week. You'll be needing the form that is in that pack in order to be able to collect your race numbers.

menoscemo

robinph wrote: »

Nothing in the post yet, but warn your various addresses to be on the look out for your registration packs appearing through their letter boxes next week. You'll be needing the form that is in that pack in order to be able to collect your race numbers.

I am up home on Friday. Hope all my clubs letters arrive by then :pac: