VMLM Good for Age

[OldNick]

Make the most of it this year as it's all change for 2019. Not even going to guarantee you a place.
https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/how-to-enter/good-age-entry/

[iwaters]

Sub 3 for M 18-39 too! Think I'll take my chances with the ballot.

[sb20]

[OldNick]

[mash180]

how many runners actually use a GFA place presently for the race ?

[Tri'ing Swimmer]

[JeffB]

Not sure why they don't go on age grading or something, e.g.

3:10 for 45 male = 69.x%
3:50 for 45 female = 63.x%

I've always thought the males times were quite generous, but 63% doesn't stand out as GFA for my money.

Maybe a cutoff for all age groups of at least 75% before you even get considered?

Maybe after that it goes on applicants per age group similar to Ironman. Or even split them 3000 each then.

The number of club places has gone down a lot over the years as well. We used to get about 4 places with ~160 members, we got 1 last year, albeit we'd have had 2 if we had just 6 more members.

Essentially just a big charity event before long.

But fair do, I've had about 5 entries under the scheme.

Jeff

[Buzz_]

There is still the Championship entry if you really are GOOD. a 1h15 half might be the easiest way in now, especially as you can do multiple halfs to get your ideal day/conditions.

Anyone know if the 6,000 limit or 3,000/3,000 is a lot less than they currently get? It has basically gone like Boston where the target time lets you enter, then they select the fastest first and roll down until all the entries have gone. Will be interesting to see where the line gets drawn, and if it gets lower year-on-year.

In recent years they have reduced the club slots and taken away the guaranteed entry on 5 ballot fails. If this means there is more chance in the ballot then I think that's all well and good, if they are taking those entries to sell to charities then it's becoming an expensive street party.

Only done London once. No great desire to go back, although never say never. Maybe I'll try a fast half in the autumn just to see.

[explorerJC]

The M60 + gets very generous....
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[smitters]

I must admit, the switch down in time for me (currently late 30s) is tough. I was planning a 40+ GFA tilt, so adding the fact you now have to be that age on qualifying race date, not VLM race date, means I've got little chance of getting GFA for 3+ years until I can run a qualy race aged 40.

On the plus side, my 40-44 GFA time is 3.05 now, so I'll naturally going to be aiming sub 3 - why wouldn't you - and I have longer to get to the speed. Shame I'm nowhere near that right now... Patience.
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[Andy G]

It's a shame that they waited until now to announce this. Presumably lots of people were targeting spring marathons this year to qualify for VLM next year. Lots have already run their spring marathons at Manchester, Brighton, Paris, etc and even those that have not done so yet, it doesn't leave them much time to make alterations to training programmes to achieve a faster qualification time.

It would be very interesting to see what sort of numbers actually apply for the Good For Age entry. Is it roughly 3000 males plus 3000 females? What if there aren't 3000 women applying through the scheme? Do those extra place roll over to the men or are they transferred to the ballet or sold to charities?

Andy G

[twhat]

Numbers 30921 to 33380 are Fast Good
for Age competitors

Thats from the VLM final instructions pdf. I think that just applies to the red start GFA, i seem to remember a friend starting in a GFA pen at Green last year ... Anyway, those figures suggest that the overall GFA numbers wont change that much, and may even go up, albeit with a lean to higher female numbers ?

[gingerbongo]

To be fair i don't think VLM give a stuff about what people think. They know they'll be ridiculously oversubscribed every single year.

The only real reason they offer the GFA stuff is to thin the field away from the 4 hour charity runners. They make a LOT more money from the charity stuff than GFA.

With the increase in people GFAing, it was inevitable that they'd put the times up soon. I think people have been expecting it for a couple of years now, but i do agree with the odd timing. Guess it just backs up the point about not really giving a stuff!!

[Buzz_]

[Whisk]

Didn't the GFA time for M<40 used to be sub-3? I thought they only increased the threshold relatively recently.

The days of guaranteed entry after 5 rejections were always going to be limited after they switched to on-line entries. In the old days, you had to get a paper form from a sports shop and post it off with a cheque. Now it's easy to put in a "fire and forget" on-line entry. I don't know how many places are available by the ballot, but with 120,000 on-line entries you're potentially using a big chunk of the available places for guaranteed entries if you kept the guarantee after 5 rejections.

I reckon the next potential target is the deferrals policy. I reckon there's another large chunk of potential entries taken every year by people deferring from the prior year.
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