It's a Lottery

Having established that I wanted to run the Marathon, I researched how to enter the race. There are two options for those who aren’t elite athletes: (i) the public ballot; and (ii) running for a charity. You can enter both to enhance your chances of success.

I applied to the ballot on 30th April 2018, with only a 5 day window to apply. It has since been reported that 414,000 people have applied for the 2019 London Marathon, breaking the world record for any Marathon entry.

Out of the 40,000 runners, once you subtract the elite athletes, charity runners and deferred entries (for those who couldn’t run the year before due to illness) your chances of success in the ballot are relatively bleak, roughly 5-7%.

Many of my friends apply yearly to no avail, which is a great shame, as they are the kind of people that deserve the opportunity, certainly more so than me. The picture below is from my friend’s Facebook account. If you’re unsuccessful you get a “SORRY” magazine telling you how amazing the Marathon is, but you won’t be a part of it. Kick a man whilst he’s down why don’t you.

I submitted my Application and paid my £39 registration fee. You can choose to bequeath your entry fee to The London Marathon Charitable Trust, which means that you have a second opportunity in a second ballot for a shot at the last remaining 1,000 places. I bequeathed. If you fail, at least get a technical training top for your bequeathed fee. Applicants find out if they are successful normally in the first week of October.

In any event I wanted to run for a charity and the question was who to run for? There was an obvious choice for me. I have a family member who was born prematurely and, following an infection that she acquired, developed cerebral palsy, which is a type of brain injury that can result in educational needs and severe muscular limitations. My aunt works tirelessly to care for her and has worked with Scope in the past. Scope is a registered charity that supports people with disabilities and their families, as well as educating others on disability. Their website is www.scope.org.uk if you would like to find out more information.

About a week after applying to Team Scope I received a call from them, wanting to discuss my application. I was open and candid about my lack of running experience, albeit still in good physical fitness, and that I knew there would be challenges ahead both in terms of meeting the minimum fundraising target of £2,000 and the extraordinarily tough training, but I had a plan. She was impressed with how I had prepared to reach my goals and I was taken by surprise when I was offered a place to run for Scope. I excitedly accepted the honour. An email was sent which subsequently confirmed my place.

Whilst my application for the public ballot may eventually be successful, I will respectfully decline the place as I will be running for Team Scope.

It’s funny how many people have congratulated me for getting into the Marathon. I’ve proved nothing so far apart from tapping on a keyboard. All of the hard work is ahead of me, and when the training gets tough, and I know it will, I will need to remember that nothing worthwhile is achieved without pain or sacrifice. Physical achievement and pain is limited to the capacity of the mind to accept that pain. My short experience of discomfort will pale in comparison to the everyday struggles of the people that I am trying to raise money for. I need to keep that perspective at the forefront of my mind when things begin to get difficult.