London Marathon 2020
1 lurker |
60 watchers
Aug 2020
3:15pm, 21 Aug 2020
11,749 posts
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larkim
I've actually carried my phone (not for tracking purposes, just for emergency purposes) on all the >20mile races I've done. For my family's sanity, 200g of penalty weight wasn't a problem (though as mentioned above - flipbelt for the win).
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Aug 2020
3:16pm, 21 Aug 2020
241 posts
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KeithL
Its not really the weight V speed for me just not something I do
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Aug 2020
3:18pm, 21 Aug 2020
11,751 posts
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larkim
Mostly I don't bother, but after a local runner collapsed and died it during a race it made me a little more conscious that I'd want to be contactable in a race in case something untoward happened. Slightly illogical that I don't then also carry it for long training runs I suppose, but I'm nothing if not a bag of contradictions.
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Aug 2020
3:21pm, 21 Aug 2020
242 posts
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KeithL
I get that. I probably should but..... maybe its an ideological opposition ![]() |
Aug 2020
3:26pm, 21 Aug 2020
448 posts
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Spideog
There are massive issues with using a phone to prove that you've done a marathon, and there are virtually identical issues with using a watch to prove you've done a marathon. Both are open to cheating, inaccuracy and unfairness due to inconsistent standards of devices being used, and even just the "requirement" to have a device in order to participate. It is reasonable for them to require some kind of proof that you've done the distance before they post you out the tshirt and medal and print your name in the "results" for the virtual event, but that standard of proof needs to be very low in order to maintain fairness of letting everyone possible participate. If you are going to use the results of something in order to award a prize, in this case an entry to the GFA start of the 2021 event being the prize, then the standards that you are using to prove that everyone competed fairly must be very high. This is normally achieved by London Marathon trusting that UKA have only licensed legitimate marathons which are accurately measured and timed, and suitably marshalled to prevent cheating, and not allowing the use of times from trail events or ones which might have some daft downhill profile so therefore are not licensed by UKA as road marathons. That proof slightly falls down in that they accept results from marathons run abroad which might be under different rules, but the numbers must be tiny and most foreign GFA attempts will be from the various other European city marathons. London Marathon are using an as yet non-existant app to determine the validity of one persons time over another in order to give the prize of a GFA entry, and they are also rating that app as a more legitimate marathon proof than a time run in VMLM 2019 or any other marathon run during 2019. |
Aug 2020
4:38pm, 21 Aug 2020
11,752 posts
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larkim
I know you're in a personal position which means you're worse affected than most might be by VLM's stance, Spideog, so I understand why you're so vehement about this. GFA isn't a prize though. It's an entry requirement. I've been on the receiving end of them putting in place a process which *I felt* was not fair, and I did try my arm in terms of contacting them to see if my description of the lack of fairness would persaude them to change in a way that would benefit me, but in the end they stuck to their guns and I missed out. Their race, their rules, for good or ill. |
Aug 2020
5:02pm, 21 Aug 2020
449 posts
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Spideog
There is far less anger than it might seem in text. It's still a fupping stupid way of doing things though, and I'd stand by the description of GFA being a prize in this context. It's something I currently have, I currently meet their requirements for deferral of a place from 2020 to 2021, they have then changed the rules part way through and decided to take the place off me and ask me to meet impossible requirements whilst potentially then giving that place to someone else who may well be submitting dubious proof of having done a marathon to the required standard. They have created a competition for places when they set the limit of 6000 GFA places, and for this year they have questionable standards for how they determine who gets a place. If Manchester marathon was short and they gave all GFA places to Manchester runners without modifying the times then it wouldn't be fair on people who ran times in other events, or if it was long and they didn't adjust times down. |
Aug 2020
5:40pm, 21 Aug 2020
105 posts
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AndyS
The fields for the elite race have been announced: virginmoneylondonmarathon.com virginmoneylondonmarathon.com Quite excited to note that a friend of mine has made it into the mens race. |
Aug 2020
6:08pm, 21 Aug 2020
2,908 posts
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Pothunter
Mo doing pacing duties I see
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Aug 2020
7:06pm, 21 Aug 2020
11,754 posts
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larkim
Lol, I have great experience of typing not quite representing what I feel when sitting at a keyboard so I knew what you mean Spideog!!
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