Falling Down the Thames Blog 18, 16th July 2014
There Are Always Alternatives
To me there is something funny about the thought of running a marathon, and then stuffing my rapidly-aging carcass into the cockpit of a kayak the following morning. So if I was going to paddle hundreds of kilometres down the River Thames from Kemble to Richborough, why not punctuate the adventure with a forty-two kilometre Sunday morning gambol?
But perhaps I have been getting a bit cocky about foot races. After more than four decades of racing, I had grown accustomed to registering for an event, paying the entry fee, and then running. Sometimes I would do well, and sometimes I would do poorly. The routine was almost childishly simple.
So when I said that I wanted to run the 2015 London Marathon as part of the source-to-sea River Thames paddling adventure known as Falling Down the Thames, I suppose I was being a bit naive. It seems that the London Marathon has become a victim of its own success. It has grown so popular that registration has become a challenge.
Hopeful runners have several options when it comes to trying to enter the race. First, I might qualify as a Good-for-Age entry. This option is only available to residents of the United Kingdom, and in my age group I would have to show that I had run a marathon in the previous two years in less than three hours and twenty minutes. There was a time when I could dash that off as a training run, but not anymore.
Secondly, I could apply to register with one of a limited number of British charities, and commit myself to talking my friends out of a huge pile of cash. That is all very well, but I like to have some choice about the charities I support.
Third, I could pay a tour operator a lot of money to arrange flights and accommodation that I wouldn’t need in order to use one of the marathon slots that they have secured. That comes after a costly membership application.
Finally, I could send off an application to run the marathon and take my chances along with an endless parade of other hopefuls. The internet is awash with stories of runners who have tried unsuccessfully to get into the London Marathon as many as seven times before giving up in despair.
Guess what? I’m not going to be running the London Marathon in 2015.
But as I tell my students, there are always alternatives, and there are certainly racing alternatives in southern England in late April and early May. There is, for instance, the Peckham 10k, the Maidenhead Easter 10 mile, and the Richmond Park 10k. They all sound like fun.
But how can you beat this… The West 4 Harriers 25th Annual Fuller’s Thames Towpath 10 Miler? According to the West 4 Harriers website, they are the friendliest running club in West London, and promise encouragement by their many enthusiastic club marshals. And could the route be any better? It includes the “picturesque Thames Towpath between Chiswick Bridge and Twickenham Bridge,” passing Kew Gardens, Syon House and Old Deer Park. The entry fee is just sixteen pounds, and each finisher receives an engraved pint beer glass.
I think that the West 4 Harriers are about to hear from me.
- Glen
Photo credits: runners at the start of the London Marathon – www.ctm.uk.com; London Marathon 2015 logo - www.newlifecharity.co.uk; Marathon News - fudgeyrun.blogspot.com.au; West 4 Harriers Towpath 10 logo - www.sportsystems.co.uk