You can view the London Marathon route by clicking on the course map. Marathon 2005
 


The London Marathon: How to enter

We know of 4 ways to enter the London Marathon:



The Ballot
The entry forms for the London Marathon are distributed in the 'Marathon News', a free magazine published by the Flora London Marathon distributed at the beginning of August. Copies of the 'Marathon News' are available from sports / running shops around the country.

The entries open in August and close mid October. Applicants will receive notification of their ballot result by the 1st week in December.

If you are not successful, and you have agreed to donate your entry fee to charity, you will be entered into a second ballot for a reserved 1000 places. As a reward for your generosity, the London Marathon will send you limited edition running related attire (polo shirt, fleece, sweatshirt, wind jacket, or similar) and entry to a prize draw.


A Charity
Should you be unsuccessful in the ballot, or would like raise money for you favourite cause then consider running far a charity.
Each charity has to pay approximately £250 for each place, so charity place are not handed out for free and you will be expected to raise between £1,000 and £2,000, for your London Marathon place, depending on the charity. Some local charities may request a lower sponsorship, so you may need to trawl around to find one.

 

Club Places
Each UK Athletics-affiliated club is guaranteed a number of places dependent upon the number of club members amongst other criteria. GBRC usually have 2 guaranteed places to the London Marathon and lots of interested runners.

To apply for a club place, you should notify any Committee Member of your rejection (keeping your rejection notice as evidence) and your name will be placed in the draw. The draw normally takes place at the Annual Christmas Dinner in December.

 

Elite Runner
Men who can run a marathon in under 2:45 or woman who can run a marathon in under 3:15 can apply for automatic entry to the London Marathon.

There is also a sliding scale for those who are 'Good for Age'. Again, apply to London Marathon for a guaranteed place as directed in the 'Marathon News'. The scale is as follows:

Men
Women
Age
Time
Age
Time
         
18 - 40
2:45 - 3:00
18 - 49
3:15 - 3:45
41 - 59
sub 3:15
50 - 54
sub 4:00
60 - 64
sub 3:50
55 - 59
sub 4:15
65 - 69
sub 4:00
60 - 64
sub 4:30
70+
sub 5:00
65 - 69
sub 5:30
70+
sub 6:30

 

Whichever route you take, Good Luck! and don't forget to check out the Marathon Training schedules and Geoff's Training Page's