DFW running club mark 2!! ALL ARE WELCOME!!!

RichOneday_2

beer_tins wrote: »

P.S. assuming 15,000 charity places at £300 a go, that's £4.5m in overal charity money paid in the U.K goes directly into the pockets of the organisers of the London marathon. Nice little earner.

And thats another point if you want to see how barmy the event has become.

The appearance fee budget is around £3-£3.5 million each year (£500k for Paula alone).

The organisers have actually got the charities, and therefore by proxy the first timers raising money from their hard up friends and families, to fund the appearance fees of already wealthy athletes.

RichOneday_2

Ukevas wrote: »

Or off to Paris we all go

Paris or Rotterdam - both good marathons, although I dare say that they're coming under some of the same influences so no idea what entry difficulty is like.

scorgeous

RichOneday wrote: »

And thats another point if you want to see how barmy the event has become.

The appearance fee budget is around £3-£3.5 million each year (£500k for Paula alone).

The organisers have actually got the charities, and therefore by proxy the first timers raising money from their hard up friends and families, to fund the appearance fees of already wealthy athletes.

Well that has somewhat opened my eyes.

Right who's up for a DFW marathon? Roll up roll up, the cheapest marathon around!

beer_tins

scorgeous wrote: »

Well that has somewhat opened my eyes.

Right who's up for a DFW marathon? Roll up roll up, the cheapest marathon around!

£5 entry. The old-style boarders will make their own lucozade using common household ingredients. Race T-shirts will be mass-bought slightly damaged stock with hand stencilled logo.

scorgeous

beer_tins wrote: »

£5 entry. The old-style boarders will make their own lucozade using common household ingredients. Race T-shirts will be mass-bought slightly damaged stock with hand stencilled logo.

And if you want a medal, bring along a milk bottle top and a sharpie pen

RichOneday_2

beer_tins wrote: »

£5 entry. The old-style boarders will make their own lucozade using common household ingredients. Race T-shirts will be mass-bought slightly damaged stock with hand stencilled logo.

Medals made from pieces of string and milk bottle tops?:p


Edit: Hehe That was spooky!:rotfl:

scorgeous

RichOneday wrote: »

Medals made from pieces of string and milk bottle tops?:p


Edit: Hehe That was spooky!:rotfl:

Whoa, how spooky was that Rich that you and I posted at exactly the same time about the exact same subject :eek:

Brilliant minds...............................:D

Or is it fools?:rotfl:

RichOneday_2

scorgeous wrote: »

Whoa, how spooky was that Rich that you and I posted at exactly the same time about the exact same subject :eek:

Brilliant minds...............................:D

Or is it fools?:rotfl:

Probably the latter (On my part anyway:o)!!!!!!!!

hypno06

Well, whatever the rights and wrongs of the ballot and charity places etc, I was grateful that I was able to run this year.......I raised £4000 for my charity and I am comfortable with that.

Had I chosen just to donate all my car boot sale earnings to Mencap this year instead, without running a step, the same percentage would be deducted in admin fees etc before it reaches the "end cause". (obviously not taking into account the cost of the "golden bond" place)

Fundraising and charity work is no longer the volunteer-based thing it used to be - it is very professional now, with salaries and fees to go with that, and of course the marathon places are all part of that system.

Of course, I would have been happier to have got in via the ballot, and for every penny of my £4000 raised to go to the "grass roots work" of mencap, but life is sadly not like that - I knew what I was undertaking when I took on the charity place, and so I cannot really complain too much about it.

What I do think is a shame, is that a place that costs £30 for a ballot runner, costs a charity ten times that much - surely it should be the same price for every place?

Having said all that - I have entered the ballot again for 2010, but if I don't get in, I probably won't ask for a charity place, simply because I find it difficult to ask for sponsorship for anything, regardless of my target, and I would find it very difficult to do so year on year on year. Once in a while is fine!

RichOneday_2

But getting back to the point, I'd much prefer to see an entry system where:

1 The entry fee is £300.
2 You have to run a certain number of qualifying races to qualify.
3. The field is split into 3 or 4 'waves' separated by 30 minutes to take pressure off the congestion on the course and finish area, thereby allowing 15-20,000 more places. (More entries means more funds for organisers)
4. Runners can choose whether or not they wish to run for a charity, but the charities have no control over allocation of places. (more runners may mean increased funds for charities even if it is totally optional? But if less fund raising is done it just goes to prove that at the moment a large part of it is done under duress).