marathon
The next London Marathon will be held in April 2014, and
is one of the highlights of the running calendar. Marathon runners come
in all shapes and sizes, so no matter what your motivation or your
target finish time, there will be many others running with similar
attitudes and abilities. As in previous years there will be a group of
runners from the Hare and Hounds competing in this huge event, and you
can be a part of it.
In 2013 the Hare and Hounds had nearly 20 finishers with some brilliant results including Will Bowers' debut 2.43 resulting in a half blue, and former captain James Kelly running a magnificent 2.21 to finish 19th in the entire race. It was a close year for CUH&H, beating our rivals from Oxford.
If you need extra competitive motivation, the London Marathon serves as both the official Varsity Marathon (with Blues and Half Blues up for grabs)
and the BUCS Marathon, so not only would you be running for a personal time, but also against Oxford and other British Universities.
If you are interested in running the London Marathon,
then you should email the CUH&H Marathon Secretary, on .
There are roughly 35,000 runners in this amazing event, but over
100,000 apply, so gaining a place requires a certain amount of luck (or
a very fast previous performance).
- Public Ballot Places
There is an online ballot for places open to anyone. This gives a 1 in 5 chance to entrants of getting a place. The
ballot opens a day or two after the marathon, for the following year, and usually fills up in couple of weeks. This year it was Tuesday 26th April, and last year the ballot closed in record time in a day.
- Automatic Places
Automatic places are available for runners who have recently completed a marathon in a qualifying time. If you are male,
aged 18 - 40 and have run a marathon in 2:45 - 3:00 hrs in 2007 or 2008, or are female, aged 18 - 49 and have run a marathon in 3:15 - 3:45 hrs, then you
are eligible for a good-for-age (gfa) place, which entitles you to automatic entry into the 2012 London Marathon. If you think you qualify for one of these places (and have official documentation to prove it) then you need to apply for a special entry form by 15th July 2011.
If you are even quicker than that (!) and have run times faster than those quoted above, under the same stipulations, then you are eligible for a Championship Place (closing date for applications 6th January 2012).
- Club (Brasher) Places
The Hare and Hounds are given 8 (with the possibility of up to 12) places for runners in the London Marathon, called
Brasher places (Chris Brasher, one of the London Marathon founders, was an alumnus of St. John's, Cambridge). To be eligible for one of these places you
need to be a paid up member of the Hare and Hounds from the start of the academic year and not be eligible for an automatic place (if you are, please get
your own place). Returning students, who have been made aware of the likely early closure of the public ballot through our mailing lists, are required to
have entered and been rejected from the ballot. In case the demand for places exceeds availability, allocation of places will be organised by the
Marathon Secretary together with the Club Captain in early December. This may involve consideration of the applicants' involvement in the club and
participation in club events as well as a ballot. Exceptionally, athletic ability may also play a role (after all, a varsity match is to be won!). More
information regarding these places will be sent out early in Michaelmas term on the CUH&H email list.
- Charity Places
Charity Places offer entry to a large number of runners in the
London Marathon. They are obtained by applying to a chosen charity,
which can be done well in advance of the marathon (depending on the
charity) until a while after the public ballot has been decided.
However, by the time the public ballot places are allocated, a large
number of the charity places will already have been allocated. If your
application for a charity place is successful the charity will
give you one of its guaranteed-entry places, on the condition that you
raise a certain amount of sponsorship money (ranging from around £800 to
£2000) for the charity. The details of the conditions of the places are
different for each charity as is the amount of support (in terms of both
training advice and fundraising), so it is advisable to research a few
selected charities and compare, to see which suits you. From personal experience as a student, be sure you are prepared for the financial task of raising such a large amount.
For more information on all of the entry routes, have a look here.
Do remember: the London Marathon is not the only marathon CUH&H has representatives in;
this year members have run in marathons in Brighton, Rome, Paris, Zermatt as well as London.
Training
Attempting to run the 26 miles and 385 yards of a marathon, at
whatever pace you aim to run it, will take a certain amount of
commitment to training over a significant period of time. Most training
schedules for marathons last in the region of 16 weeks, which means that
for the London marathon, training should be starting around
Christmas time! However, the initial weeks are quite light in most
programmes, so just continuing to do the usual Hare and Hounds runs
will suffice until the New Year.
Over the duration of the training, a runner will run 15 - 40+ miles per week on average, depending on their ability and target time. The mileage
increases steadily until about three weeks before the marathon, when it starts to reduce in preparation for the race. Therefore, before you apply for a
place, you need to be sure that you're willing and able to fit the necessary amount of running into your schedule, otherwise your marathon experience
will not be a pleasurable one. For an idea what amount of training is required, based on your ability, have a look at some of the example training
schedules at the links below.
Between Christmas and April, much of the Hare and Hounds training will be useful for marathon runners.
However some may have to be adapted so your body can cope with the extra distance of the marathon. The most
important session of the week is the long run (12-26+ miles) which takes place on Sunday morning. There is a
marathon mailing list where anyone can post to ask for advice or
arrange runs with other marathon runners. There will also be pub trips organised by the marathon secretary
where you can meet annd chat with the other runners, and share experiences, training ideas and advice.
There will also be organised groups travelling to races as part of training, so that benchmark times can be recorded. Everyone is particularly
encouraged to take part in the club-organised Cambridge Boundary Run (run half if you think it's too close to London). |
If you have any questions regarding the London Marathon,
marathon training or places, then please email the Marathon
Secretary.
If you're keen to find out more about the details of marathon
training (and running in general) try visiting these links: