It’s not long now until the results of the Virgin London Marathon ballot will be made public and when tens of thousands of runners will find out if they have an entry in the greatest marathon on the planet. For many if they don’t get an entry the alternative is a guaranteed charity entry. This involves the runner pledging to raise a pre-agreed amount of money in exchange for one of the charity’s entries. These days it’s not a given that you’ll get an entry just by agreeing to this fundraising requirement. Many charities have a waiting list and are very selective about who they offer entries to.

But what charity should you choose? For many it’s a very personal decision often linked to an incidence of death or illness in the family but for others it can be ‘I’ll make contact with as many charities as possible in the hope that one of them offers me an entry and I don’t care about the cause’. Some are enticed by ‘deals’ offered by charities – ‘raise X and we’ll give you Y’ – although these ‘deals’ are much fewer than they used to be. Are you more motivated to raise funds if you feel a real relationship with the charity that you’re running for? Or are you more concerned with running the race, and getting your place, and building a relationship later?

Don’t forget of course that if you get your own entry in the ballot you can still raise funds for charity. You become an ‘own place runner’.

Let me know how you’ll be choosing your charity this year.

Tags: Virgin, London, Marathon, Running, Charity

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