Posts Tagged 'London Marathon'

Win £250 for your charity – on stage at the Virgin London Marathon Expo

Published April 19, 2013 Competitions , Events Leave a Comment
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Ore Oduba on stage

If you’ve already collected your 2013 Virgin London Marathon race number, you might have spent some time at the ‘Pasta Party’ in the Virgin area at Expo.

All through the day a number of speakers take to the stage giving you race details, hydration advice, and pacer information to help you get around (full schedule here) including a number of celeb runners. You might have caught our ‘Higher or Lower’ game too.

Higher Lower participants

Anyone who’s running can take part, you just need to pick up one of the huge red arrows being handed out as the game starts. our host Ore Oduba (from BBC Sport and Newsround) will be on stage guiding you though the game – simply guess whether the next runner number shown on the big screen will be higher or lower than the last one using your arrow.

The last runner left in the game will receive a £250 donation to the charity of their choice.

There’s still time to win, the approx timings for Friday & Saturday’s ‘Higher or Lower’ games are below (listen out for announcements in the Expo).

  • Friday – 13:25
  • Friday – 16:45
  • Friday – 18:35
  • Saturday – 11:40
  • Saturday – 13.00
  • Saturday – 15:10

Terms and Conditions apply (which are printed on the arrows in Expo).

9 things not to miss at the Virgin London Marathon Expo

Published April 19, 2013 Events Leave a Comment
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Are you visiting the Virgin London Marathon Expo this year to collect that vital Race Number? We’ve put together a list of ‘Must Visits’ so you don’t miss out on something exciting.

  1. Collect your race number and timing chip (sounds obvious but it’s super important for Sunday).Race Number Collection
  2. Stock up on Virgin London Marathon adidas Kit.Marathon Kit
  3. Vest Printing – there’s nothing like having someone cheer your name to get an extra bit of motivation.T-Shirt Printing
  4. Fundraising For Charity? Lots of the charities have their own stands so why not pop along and say hello, lots of them have cheering materials so your friends and supporters can make lots of noise, and you can find out where their cheering zone is on the course too.Cancer Research Charity Stand
  5. Lucozade pacing band – want to keep a check on your Marathon pace as you’re running? Lucozade can give you a printed wristband with your finish time and mile splits.Pace timing bands
  6. The race day helpdesk – If you’ve got any last minute marathon questions stop by the Help Desk, the knowledgeable team can answer any of your questionsThe Help Desk
  7. Pasta Party – After all that walking around you’ll need to refuel, why not visit the pasta party, take a seat and relax in front of the stage to get some last minute hints and tips on how to make the most of your Virgin London Marathon.Check out the full stage schedule here.Pasta Party Stage
  8. Virgin Money Giving Photo Booth – while you’re looking as fresh as a daisy, visit our Photo Booth and get your pre-race shot posted to Facebook or Twitter.The Virgin Money Giving photobooths
  9. T-shirt and goody bag collection – don’t forget to pick up your newly printed t-shirt or vest on your way out, you’ll need that on Race Day.
    Goody Bag & T-shirt collection

Best of luck for  everyone who’s running on Sunday. we’ll also be out on the course to cheer you all along!

Come and see us at the Virgin London Marathon Expo

Published April 15, 2013 Events , Virgin Money Giving News 1 Comment
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The Virgin Money Giving photoboothsIf you’re heading up to the Virgin London Marathon Expo this week to collect your race number, one place you should definitely stop off at is the Virgin Money Giving Stand (you’ll find us in the Virgin area opposite the main stage). After their extremely popular appearance last year our Virgin Money Giving photo booths are back.

You can strike a pose with your race number, squeeze in all your friends and family or maybe get a photo with a celeb (last year we couldn’t keep Iwan Thomas out of them). The booth will print a couple of copies of your photo, one to keep and one to hang up on our wall of fame, and you can also post it straight to Twitter or Facebook.

We’ve also got a limited number of supporter packs with some equipment your friends and family can use to make some noise on race, and our team will be on hand to talk fundraising with you if you need any last minute tips.

If you want to plan your visit, take a look at the Interactive Show Plan and we’ll be posting our list of top things to see at Expo a little later in the week.

Opening times for the Virgin London Marathon Expo are:

  • Wednesday 17 April – 11am to 8pm
  • Thursday 18 April – 10am to 8pm
  • Friday 19 April – 10am to 8pm
  • Saturday 9am top 5pm

Some amazing numbers from Virgin London Marathon fundraising runners

Published April 4, 2013 Events Leave a Comment
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We’ve been crunching some of the numbers from all those amazing Virgin London Marathon runners fundraising with Virgin Money Giving. And what better way to display them than in a colourful infographic?

Virgin London Marathon

Virgin Money Giving takes to the airwaves with Capital FM

Published March 14, 2013 Virgin Money Giving News 1 Comment
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Capital FM, Help a Capital Child & Virgin Money Giving

If you wake up in the morning with ‘Dave and Lisa’ or head home with ‘Greg Burns’ on Capital FM you might have heard that they’ve got a little Virgin London Marathon challenge on the go.

Two teams of listeners are battling it out in a ‘Breakfast’ vs ‘Drive’ fundraising challenge for Help a Capital Child with each team challenged to raise at least £5000.

Representing Breakfast is Capital FM DJ Pandora and her team Alex Barry, Grace Findlater, Guy Wilkinson, Louise Brown and Chris Wheeler.

And heading up team Drive it’s Ant Payne and his team Phil Hinnitt, Jeanette London, Stephanie Herlock, Adam Weidner, and Stephanie Curtis

Not only will they be updating their fundraising and training journey on air, but there’s a couple of fantastic competitions for listeners and supporters so head over to the Capital FM website to find out more….And while you’re there get behind Team Breakfast or Team Drive and make a donation!

It’a s Virgin London Marathon – Help a Capital Child cake!
Pandora Posing for her official photo…
…working the camera
Team Breakfast
Both teams together posing for the camera
The runners get an intro to Help a Capital Child
….and get to see how their marathon fundraising will make a real difference
Now to brainstorm some fundriasing ideas
…And share them with everyone else
Now the serious stuff…the fundraising page
And the challenge begins

Where did you stick yours?

Published February 25, 2013 Events 3 Comments
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Virgin Money Giving kitbag postcards

The day you secured your Virgin London Marathon place is probably a distant memory now and your training should be well underway, but what about the fundraising? Have you promoted your challenge to your friends and family yet?

If you’re struggling to find the motivation to set up your Virgin Money Giving page, how about this for an extra incentive – we’re still giving away Marathon kit bags to the first 20,000 runners who set up and receive their first donation.

Kit Bags

You’ll find a postcard included in your Marathon kitbag, just fill in your charity and fundraising page address on the front and stick it up in the most public place you can think of. As you can see from the image above, the VMG team have been sticking them on their running bags, the lunch fridge, and even up in the loo!

We’d love to know where you’ve stuck yours. Post a photo to our Facebook Page, or send us a tweet to @vmgiving using the hashtag #WhereIveStuckMine.

Not created your Virgin London Marathon fundraising page yet? There’s still plenty of time so why not get started today.

8 things we learnt at Meet the Experts

Published February 4, 2013 Events 2 Comments
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Meet the Experts

We’re not counting this one, but did you know that since the first year of the Virgin London Marathon £610 million has been raised for good causes!

Every year the London Marathon team host an event just for runners who got their place through a charity called ‘Meet the Experts’. And as the official fundraising partner to this event Virgin Money Giving always grasps this opportunity to host a stand and chat to as many runners as possible.

There were some great expert speakers on stage at the event each giving lots of useful advice, here are 8 things we learnt:

  1. Stats from the 2012 Virgin London Marathon – 37,542 runners registered, 37,225 started and 36,705 finished.
  2. How it all began – “To believe this story you must believe that the human race be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible”. Vision of the London Marathon founders, 1979.
  3. The start time – it’s changed, the masses (that’s you and me) and elite men start at 10.00am instead of 9.45am.
  4. Practice your pose – your finish line photo is one of the most important pictures you’ll ever have, as you cross the line hold your arms in the air and smile, make it a good one.
  5. Listen to your body – when you’re marathon training it’s quite tough on your body but learn how to ‘read it’ and listen know what’s good and bad pain.
  6. Runners World Pacing Team – for the first time ever, the Runners World pacing team will be at all three London Marathon starts – red, green and blue – to help you achieve your goal finish time.
  7. Raising more money for charity – If you set a target on your fundraising page you could raise up to 60% more money.
  8. Social Media is key – promoting your page and keeping your ‘fans’ updated on your progress through Facebook and Twitter could help you raise more money.

Good luck to everyone taking part in the Virgin London Marathon 2013, if you went along to the event or have anymore useful tips to share get in touch.

The countdown to the Virgin London Marathon

Published January 11, 2013 Virgin Money Giving News 1 Comment
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It’s less than 100 days until the 2013 Virgin London Marathon – a perfect milestone to let your friends, family and colleagues know that you’re taking on the 26.2 miles for charity and to point them in the direction of your Virgin Money Giving page.

If you’ve yet to set up your page, it’s quick and easy. Just follow these simple  steps.

Why not keep us updated on your fundraising and training efforts on our Facebook, Google+ or Twitter- You’ll want to follow us as we’ve got some exciting competitions coming between now and race day.

Oh and don’t forget as soon as you receive an online donation to your Virgin Money Giving page we’ll send you an exclusive Virgin London Marathon kitbag.

Our free Virgin London Marathon kitbags are on their way

Published November 15, 2012 Competitions 20 Comments
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 The first batch of our exclusive ‘Virgin London Marathon kit bags’ have been popped in the post.

If you’re fundraising on Virgin Money Giving for the 2013 Virgin London Marathon, and have already started to collect donations through your page you should be receiving yours shortly.

We’ve also put an ‘I’m running’ postcard in the bag, just write your fundraising page address on it and stick it somewhere for everyone to see (maybe by the coffee machine at work?). There’s a bag of Jelly Babies in there too, a great ‘quick sugar release’ you can eat while running – an alternative to gels.

And finally, the fashion accessory no fundraising runner should be without – a Virgin Money Giving sweat band. Not just handy while you’re on a run outside or on the treadmill, but we’ve got a little something planned for them, so watch this space.

It’s not too late to get yours, there’s 20,000 of them and still lots available, so why not create your page now.

Running the marathon? Setting your fundraising page up early could help boost your total

Published November 8, 2012 Virgin Money Giving News 3 Comments
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By now the thought of running a marathon will have truly sunk in to those of you who received their ‘Congratulations’ magazine. If you didn’t get in through the ballot there are still lots of charities with places.

The next step is to set up your fundraising page. Our research has shown that the earlier you set up your page, the more donations you’re likely to receive. To get the most out of your page we’ve listed some tips below:

- Personalise your page. Make sure you mention the reasons why you’re running, and which charity you’re running for. If there’s a story behind your choice of charity make sure you let everyone know.
- Add a picture – preferably in your running gear so that your picture reflects your mammoth challenge.
- Set a target. Runners who published their target raised on average 58% more than those who didn’t put their target on their page. It also lets donors know what you’re aiming for.
- Update your page regularly. Let people know how your training and fundraising is going. If you have any events prior to the big race let people know how you get on. We’ve seen that the more you let people know about your training and fundraising, the more people are likely to give. Some of your friends and family might donate more than once when they see just how much time and effort you’re putting in.

You can find plenty more about setting up your page and fundraising tips on our blog and help guide, but get in touch to let us know what you’re doing to hit your target.

Don’t forget the first 20,000 runners to create their page and start fundraising will also receive a free exclusive Virgin Money Giving kit bag.

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Earlier at the Virgin Money Giving Mini Marathon start kaavmw 90b3nf 1qdxbi ^AS

Earlier at the Virgin Money Giving Mini Marathon start kaavmw 90b3nf 1qdxbi ^AS

Earlier at the Virgin Money Giving Mini Marathon start kaavmw 90b3nf 1qdxbi ^AS

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