How I Came to Get My Place

Dear Runner

We regret that we have to advise you that your application to run in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon has been unsuccessful. Once again demand for places has far exceeded supply.

We are sorry that we were not able to accept your entry this year and hope you will have better luck next year.

David Bedford, Race Director

An extract from the letter I, and thousands of others received after our names were not drawn from the ballot for the thirty-first
London Marathon. The letter went on to tell me about the many charities that still had places available, where a minimum sponsorship would need to be raised in return for one of the great experiences London can offer.

I had filled out the online form at the beginning of May; one week after the 2010 Marathon had taken place.

Like most of us, I had watched or listened to on
Radio 5 coverage of the London Marathon on numerous occasions. As a kid I dreamt of leading the field home, something which of course was never likely to become a reality no matter how much training I put in.

Throughout my teens and early twenties it was the total opposite of the running spectrum that concerned me – attempting to run the 100 and 200 metres that fraction of a second quicker than the previous summer.

Even while at my best over the 100 metres, getting down to 12.5 seconds and competing for England at the
Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, London Marathon day and the experience that came with it always had the effect of making me think “I fancy some of that”.

Once I’d got bored with sprinting and taken up longer distances, the appeal dissipated somewhat, there’s nothing like dragging your body over the finishing line at the end of a half marathon to make you think that doing another straight away is just madness!

As time went on and I mixed with runners who had several of the full jobs to their name, and my own endurance improved, it became obvious that I really should give the 26.2 miles a crack: every distance runner should attempt one at some point, right?

Receiving the sorry, it ain’t going to be your turn this time letter wasn’t as big a disappointment for me as it would have been for many. Although London definitely had its appeal, there was always another year and plenty of alternatives, Brighton, Stratford-on-Avon, Edinburgh and Belfast all happen around the same time. Then there were also plans B and C for how I could still run London if I really wanted to.

Virtually every major charity worth its existence has London Marathon places, plus, there was the running club route.

The Stragglers where I am a member, due to being one of London’s largest running clubs, gets five places. Anyone that fails to be chosen in the public ballot can put their name into the hat. As luck would have it, or not depending on how you view these things, mine was triumphantly drawn one Thursday night in November.

So here I am, four and a half months away from my marathon debut, as up for the challenge as I have been for any I’ve taken on.

Among the replies I got to my Facebook status update announcing the news to the 140 people on my friends list was one saying “I hope you’re going to write a blog about it”.

Given the repetition of the training required to complete 26.2 miles, trying to make preparing for the marathon interesting to read about could be as big a challenge as running the thing, but I’m planning to give this my best shot as well.