Its taper time and now that most of the running, before Sunday, is out of the way – runners can turn their attention to race day morning and prep.
With this in mind its worth having a checklist of what to take to the start line. We’ve put together a list below of what to have with you at the start:
Your race number. Don’t forget it!
The same applies to your timing tag. Without this you won’t get an official time.
Your trainers and the rest of your kit. It’s surprising but we’ve seen people forget their running shoes on the day! It’s worth checking, double checking and triple checking your kit on the night before to make sure you’ve got it all.
Warm gear to wear before the gun goes off. Bring an old tracksuit or jumper that you don’t mind throwing away just before the race starts. All of this kit is collected and given to charity – so you’ll be doing even more for charity. If you don’t want to throw away any kit lots of people choose to wear a bin bag (but cut a hole in it for your head).
Plenty of spare time. Arrive at the start with enough time to relax, go to the loo as often as you need, meet up with any friends you’re running with, and get yourself ready for the race.
For some people running 26.2 miles Virgin London Marathon course isn’t quite enough of a challenge. We caught up with some of the Guinness World Record attemptees at the Friday Press Conference down at the London Marathon Media Centre.
David Lawrenson will be attempting to complete the course dressed as the Blackpool Tower for Scope “it’s not the height of the bridges I’m worried about, it’s the length of them.”
Brothers Tom and Billy Casserley will be running, or galloping the course dressed as ‘Bonzo’ the pantomime horse. “I’m the older, taller brother, so I get the front” Tom said. They’re hoping to beat 5 hours.
Lee Ryan will be attempting the course with a 20lbs pack on his back. He has a target time of 3 hours 49 to beat.
Brother and sister due George and Charley Phillips are taking to the streets of London, aiming to complete the course on stilts. They’re hoping to complete the course in 7 hours 30.
Sasha Kenney is hoping to hula-run the whole 26.2 miles. As well as running Sasha has to keep her hula hoop spinning around her waist for the full distance for the NSPCC.
Look out for these and all the fancy dressed runners taking part on Sunday!
With the London Marathon Weather forcast changing every day its important that you’ve thought about your race day strategy. The latest weather report suggests a showery start – and you can keep up to date with the weather from the Met Office.
Yesterday we caught up with Liz Yelling who gave us three top tips for racing on Sunday:
Wrap up nice and warm at the start – a bin bag will help to keep you dry and warm.
Don’t go off too fast.
Keep to your pace. If you were slower than you’d planned over the first few miles, don’t try to speed up to make up the time in the next few miles.
We’ll be posting our race day checklist later on today, so make sure you check back in – and let us know if you have any tips about combating the weather.
While we’re talking about weather, her’s a great infographic from The Met Office have also put together a great inforgraphic about London Marathon weather over the last 30 years.
We’ve heard from Kate Rothery, who’s taking to the start line on Sunday, raising money for Mind:
I decided to apply for the Virgin London Marathon in May after a bad few months – I really wanted to do something positive and so I temporarily forgot I hated running and applied for a charity place with mental health charity Mind!
I had completely put it to the back of my mind, especially after tripping over my own foot at a volleyball match and breaking my ankle. With the plaster just off, I’d taken my first opportunity to get back out shopping when a very enthusiastic girl called up from Mind to let me know I’d got a place, finishing with a chirpy ‘Are you pleased?!’… My very blunt answer was ‘er no’ seeing as I still wasn’t allowed to do any physical exercise at all let alone train to run 26 miles. She did seem a little concerned and gave me the weekend to think about it, but with the nod from the physio and with a lack of excuses remaining, I decided to take it, feeling slightly sick when I got the official confirmation through.
An elite athlete would still be horrified by what I call my ‘preparations’ but for me it has been a real lifestyle shift and a huge personal challenge. I have run over 200 miles in rain, wind and snow, asked for running shoes and leggings for Christmas instead of chocolate and wine, boosted the sale of energy drinks and blister plasters considerably and in the meantime started to feel like I could really actually run 26 miles.
Through it all the one big motivation has been running for Mind – the work they do to help sufferers of mental health to overcome their problems is so vital and they work tirelessly to force mental illness into the public spotlight. My dad John Rothery lost his battle with manic depression when I was only 19 years old, taking his own life back in 2005. On the outside he had it all, a good job, a loving family and was a very talented sportsman and PE teacher, popular with his students. But inside he was fighting a disease that took his whole personality away. Depression is difficult to talk about, for the sufferers and for their family – yet sharing the problem is one of the key treatments. I hope by opening up just a little about what happened to us, I have helped to show that depression is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hide – and in fact one in four of us will suffer at one point during our lives.
I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who has sponsored me so far and their words of good luck and the memories they’ve shared of Dad. I know my Mum and sister hold back tears nearly every time someone donates!
So on Sunday morning at 9.45am, I will take my place alongside thousands of other excited and nervous runners. For me I will looking out for all my friends and family round the course – just like always they will be there to keep me smiling but mostly for the sign saying ‘Finish line’!
With just a few days to go until Sunday’s Virgin London Marathon now’s the perfect time to update your page. Here are five things you can do to your page in race week to give your fundriasing a little extra push.
Update your picture. Once you’ve collected your race number add a picture of yourself in your running kit holding it up. If you’ve been to Expo and visited our stand why not use your photo booth picture.
Update your story on your page. Make sure you let people know how your training has been going, and how the nerves are feeling now race day is approaching.
Make sure you’ve set a target. If you dont currently have one set on your page, it’s not too late. A stretching target on your page will help your fundraisers decide how much to donate.
Add your offline fundraising. If you’ve been given cash or cheques too, make sure it’s added in the ‘offline fundraising’ section on your page to reflect your total raised.
Email your friends, family and work colleagues. Give everyone another push by sending an updated email on your charities, your training and your fundraising so they can all see the fantastic effort you’ve put in.
Cracknell recently visited the charity to meet children affected by brain injuries. It was a poignant visit for Cracknell, who suffered a serious brain injury himself in 2010 when he was hit by a truck whilst cycling across the USA for a television series.
Speaking during his visit to The Children’s Trust, Tadworth, Cracknell said: “It was inspirational to see the work that goes on here at The Children’s Trust and to meet all the children who are working so hard in their rehabilitation. When I’m running the London Marathon the inspirational children, their amazing parents and the phenomenal staff who work alongside them will never be far from my thoughts.”
Having rowed the atlantic and walked to the South Pole in addition to his Olympic Gold medals, Cracknell is aiming for a time of 2:50:00 in this Sunday’s race.
While you’re at Expo, come and say hi to us at the Virgin Money Giving stand. You’ll find us in the Virgin area opposite the main stage.
We’ve set up photo booths where you can have your picture taken and uploaded straight to Facebook. Perfect to use as a little encouragement for your friends to donate to your page.
The booths take 4 pictures, you’ll be able to pick your favourite and print it off or upload it to your Facebook page. Our team will be on hand to help if you need it. Once you’ve picked your favourite and it’s been printed, we’d love you to peg it to our wall of good luck messages with your own messages written on the bottom for everyone else to see.
Every runner that takes part in the Virgin London Marathon will make their way to the ExCel centre to collect their race number and running chip. But, runners can pick up a lot more from Marathon than these two, essential items.
Collect your race number. As soon as you enter the front door there’s a row of booths – find the one that matches your race number and collect your race bag. Without your race number you won’t be able to take part on Sunday (Don’t forget you’ll need your passport or form of ID to get your race number).
Collect your Sports Timing Tag. The Marathon accurately times every runner by the tag (attach it to your trainers before race day).
Print your name on your race shirt – your next stop should be to the shirt printing stand (stand 1). You’ll be asked for your message, and told how long it will take. You’ll collect it from the Virgin Area at the end of Expo.
Say hi to your charity and let them know how your fundraising has gone. They’ll let you know where their cheering zones are on the day, so look out for them during the race!
Last minute kit shopping. If you’re running low on gels or jelly beans, or need a new pair of socks to see you through the day, then the exhibitors will have all that you need for the race – and more.
Check out your next race – Interested in taking on another challenge after the marathon is over? There are plenty of stalls and exhibitors detailing marathons, ultra-marathons and other events across the country such as the Virgin Money Cyclone, as well as events abroad.
Take in talks on the stage from a host of speakers, including Iwan Thomas (who’s running again this year) as well as Katherine Kendall from Runners World and marathon coach Martin Yelling.
Talk fundraising with us – find the Virgin Money Giving area and let us know how your training and fundraising has gone – it would be great to hear how you’ve been getting on.
Get your photo taken at the Virgin Money Giving photo booth and hang one up on the Virgin Money Giving hall of fame washing line. You can also post your photo straight to Facebook from the booth.
Win some stuff – there’s the chance to win plenty of prizes in the Virgin Money lounge with a Virgin group lucky dip and Virgin Galactic prize draw.
A while ago we featured Jim Paterson who’s attempting to run 12 marathons for charity.
After his first trail marathon, and with the Virgin London Marathon next on his list, he got back in touch to let us know how his running has been going.
The going gets tough
“Is this anyones first trail run?”
A few hands, my own included, went up.
“And is this anyone’s first marathon ever?”
About three or four hands went up.
The announcer laughed and grinned to himself for a moment. “Right, well…good luck to you…”
This didn’t fill me with confidence.
In truth, I was very nervous about this marathon anyway (the Sussex Coastal Trail marathon, organised by Endurance life, around the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head areas of Sussex). Having tagged it in my head as a ‘sort of cross-country run’ when I signed up, I didn’t really think any more about it, pleased it was relatively close to London and thinking it would make “a nice change”.
Reviewing the map two days beforehand, to work out if there were any good points from which my girlfriend could watch, was the first time I paid attention to the information on ‘ascent’ or in layman’s terms ‘how hilly it is’. If you’re ever doing a trail or cross-country race, I recommend you look at this a few weeks before. It might mean you do some, oh I don’t know, hill training or something beforehand? And might not turn up looking like a Dad competing in his first school sports day.
So it quickly became apparent that this might be a very different race from what I’d had before. A fact quickly confirmed by the first time I HAD TO RUN UP A CLIFF.
I started to panic a bit after the first couple of miles had left me gasping and making ill-considered whimpers, before I adopted a new “let’s just get round” strategy that meant walking up and then running down the other side, which I think was a tactical masterstroke.
By the halfway point I was steady but feeling the toll of the terrain, but was lucky enough to fall into step with two other runners, Martin and Tim, who were also trying to manage their pace. This ended up making the second half a lot easier as we supported and encouraged each other, which was a welcome reminder of the camaraderie you can find in what is often considered a solitary pursuit. We ended up running most of the rest of the race together (until Martin and I got lost and separated from Tim).
My finishing time was a personal-worst-breaking 7 hours, 29 minutes, 57 seconds. Not fast at all, but I got round, learned a little more about trail runs, and was left rather grateful for the fact that my next few runs are traditional road races.
See my (only mildly harrowing) video diary from Sussex here:
Jim Paterson is running the Twelveathon – 12 marathon in 2012 to raise £12,000 for UNICEF and Scene & Heard. Find out more and sponsor him here
It may not be a huge surprise following the new logo introduced by Virgin Money at the beginning of the year, but we’re pleased to unveil the new Virgin Money Giving logo.
You’ll start to see it appearing in the build up to the 2012 Virgin London Marathon at the Marathon Expo and out and about on the course. We’ll be updating the website and all other areas that feature our logo in the coming months.
And talking of the Marathon Expo we’ve got more details of what we’ve got in store coming soon, we look forward to seeing you all from Wednesday 18 April in the Virgin area, so pop by and say hello!
We’ve heard from 
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