Commiserations
That was the word that confronted me this morning when my
London Marathon magazine landed.
Every year a ballot is held to enable people to enter the event. In October magazines are sent out to all who put their names forward. Two editions are printed. One for those who didn’t get in, like me, and one for those more fortunate. They get You're in! I get Commiserations.
Of course, it isn’t the only way to get in. Hundreds of charities have places available in return for raising money for their good cause. This is what makes the London Marathon what it is, and I applaud it. £64 million was raised in 2018 and almost £1 billion has been raised since the first race in 1981.
The only problem is being able to raise £1500 - £2000 doing something everyone knows you love. It’s strange because if I was to do a parachute jump or swim with sharks or ask people to sponsor me to not run I would probably have an easier time of it. People like you to earn your money and don’t want to give for you to do something you love, which is a fair point actually.
So, next April I will again be sitting in front of the TV watching the thousands of competitors who have trained, suffered and sweated to get ready to run the 26.2 miles around London. I shall watch with some envy but also with great pride in all of them for making it to the start line and putting in the hours of effort needed to prepare. I’ll be especially impressed by those for whom running is not something they would ever want to do for fun but are doing it to raise money for people in need and changing lives in the process.
For now I will focus on the Beachy Head Marathon coming up at the end of October.
Every year a ballot is held to enable people to enter the event. In October magazines are sent out to all who put their names forward. Two editions are printed. One for those who didn’t get in, like me, and one for those more fortunate. They get You're in! I get Commiserations.
Of course, it isn’t the only way to get in. Hundreds of charities have places available in return for raising money for their good cause. This is what makes the London Marathon what it is, and I applaud it. £64 million was raised in 2018 and almost £1 billion has been raised since the first race in 1981.
The only problem is being able to raise £1500 - £2000 doing something everyone knows you love. It’s strange because if I was to do a parachute jump or swim with sharks or ask people to sponsor me to not run I would probably have an easier time of it. People like you to earn your money and don’t want to give for you to do something you love, which is a fair point actually.
So, next April I will again be sitting in front of the TV watching the thousands of competitors who have trained, suffered and sweated to get ready to run the 26.2 miles around London. I shall watch with some envy but also with great pride in all of them for making it to the start line and putting in the hours of effort needed to prepare. I’ll be especially impressed by those for whom running is not something they would ever want to do for fun but are doing it to raise money for people in need and changing lives in the process.
For now I will focus on the Beachy Head Marathon coming up at the end of October.
