I’ve entered a marathon. Or more precisely, I’ve entered the ballot for the 2019 Virgin London Marathon.
Last year a record 360,050 entered (including me) and over 40,000 are expected to line up at the start line next April. So the odds of getting a place are pretty slim.
I’ve ran this race before, back in 2002 when it was sponsored by Flora, and Paula Radcliffe and Tani Grey-Thompson were victorious, and hated it. It put me off running for weeks and definitely put me off running a marathon ever again.
It took me until 2017 to even consider another 26.2 miler and I made the decision to enter for 2018 as it fell on my birthday. (When I told my sister she said normal people go out for a meal or have a party with friends!) I didn’t get a place – I was more relieved than disappointed.
So what’s made me want to run a marathon again?
I feel stronger as a runner and a person. I’m also more confident I can fit the training around my job and family. I have the support of my husband and girls, as well as that from my friends in my running club and the other running communities, online and offline, I am part of.
But I also know that I probably won’t get a place in the VLM and I don’t have the time to raise the thousands of pounds required to secure a charity place.
So the next step is to put plan B in place… I need to find another marathon that guarantees me a place and doesn’t cost a fortune. (For a supposedly cheap sport, running can get pretty expensive when you start entering the bigger races!).
That’s my goal for next week, once I’ve got over the shock of entering the VLM and the very slim possibility I might actually have to run it…
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