please help!!

Hi all....hopefully planning to run the London Marathon for the first time next year. However been looking through the charities and they all seem to want you to raise a min £2000 - is this easily acheivable or is it a total nightmare to raise. Can anyone tell be how they find raising this amount cos it just seems soooooo much for each individual to raise alone?????????? rGrxx

Hi there,

It IS doable but I found it more difficult than the training if I'm honest.

Having said that it was also a welcome distraction from worrying too much about the race, if you know what I mean.

My advice is - Are you ready?

Don't do it alone, give sponsor forms to other, especially if they work in big places, factorys, schools, hospitals etc. 

Make posters, include your picture and a little bit about how it's your first London Marathon and the charity you are supporting.

Have no shame, ask everyone you know, everyone who knows your friends and family, everyone! Face to face is always best, big smile and tell them about how the charity really needs their cash.

Offer to take the money straight away to save you having to chase them for it after.

Add a signature to your emails linking to your fund raising page.

Trawl local shops and businesses, in your running gear if possible. Great if you're easy on the eye but take if from me, don't worry if you don't quite look the part (like me) this can work to your advantage as people will be 'surprised' by your goal. I lost count of the people that said "What you?" but then got their wallets out, ha ha!

Have in mind your total you have pledged but only count the cash that you have in your hand when updating you fund raising page with offline totals, people give more if they think you are struggling.

Try and get full details of sponsors especially if someone else has got them for you. I missed out of about £60 because I simply didn't know who they were.

Start fund raising immediately, I didn'y get my gold bond place until just before Christmas and found that most people were pretty skint in January but quite generous over the Christmas and new year period, don't dismiss trawling the local pub with an empty pint glass in your running gear! Take a couple of mates to big you up and go for it.

I raised a good chunk of money by holding a couple of cake stalls in the foyer of the local hospital, friends donated cakes and biscuits for me to sell. NHS workers love cake on a Friday!

My local landlord was happy to do a basic meal at cost for me, I sold tickets making about £5 on each and he had a nice full bar, he also donated a prize for a raffle which raised almost as much as the lunch.

Grow a bit of a thick skin. There will be people who offer to help/ sponsor you/ lend their support who you consider good friends but despite all the talk they do nothing, on the other hand total strangers supported me to the point of embarrassment which was so lovely it restores you faith.

You get 2 months to get it all in after the race and I received over £100 after the day so don't worry if you're a little short by April.

I ran for the British Lung Foundation who requested a pledge of £1750 and raised £2667.06 

You CAN do both the race and the fund raising!

Good luck!

Some good ideas above for raising money but I think you need to be honest with yourself about how much you can commit to this. For me personally I know that there is no way that I could raise that amount of money and put in the training required. There just aren't enough hours in the day! At the moment I am training for a race at the end of October and I'm currently struggling to get out for one run a week. You are the best person to judge wether this is achievable or not. London is a great race to be part of but there are plenty of other marathons that will be as enjoyable as well as cheaper. Hope this helps

Don't just think selfishly about it, getting your place in the marathon via a charity, it won't work.

Have a good think about why you want to run the marathon. What does it mean to you? What would it mean to your family? What are the problems that have touched your life, and who are the charities that are out there dealing with those problems? Which of them have or could have made a difference to you, your family, or your freinds?

If you pick a charity you actually care about, if you feel you can actually do something good for them, not only are you more likely to be given a place as your passion and commitment comes across to them, but you will find that the fundraising is actually really very easy.

And don't worry about time, you'll find the time, you'll also find that people become more interested in what you are doing, and that will spur you on in your training. Your training and your fundraising will work together hand in hand, each helping to improve the other.

Go for it - amaze yourself .

I ran for Spinal Injuries Association in 2008 - raising the money was a piece of cake, you just get people to help, always carry your sponsor forms, get yourself in your local papers, ask local pubs and shops if they'll have a sponsor form on the bar or counter, auction some stuff on e-bay, loads of other things you can do too.

That Marathon was a fantastic, wholesome, enriching experience. In 2009 I had a direct entry into Edinburgh, and without the fundraising, the experience was an empty one. In 2010, I fundraised for the Stroke Association, with personal reason, but my passion was not as strong as for the SIA. I have learned my lessons, in future, I will run on behalf of SIA and Spinal Research. Running for them, because I care, made that marathon. The others were not anywhere near as good.

Remember - its not just about the day.

About 15,000 people each year raise the cash for Gold Bond places so its definitely doable. Some find it easy, some really struggle.

If you don't have many family or friends then you will have to work harder at it but have seen all sorts over the years raise the cash.

Thank you all so much for you comments, very helpful and encouraging indeed - I will be 'going fot it' if I am accepted onto my chosen charity (Asthma Uk) !!

Great charity. I suffer from asthma. Best of luck!

I suffer from asthma too. Along with eczema and hayfever grr!

Good luck!

I suffer with terrible flatulence, but there's no charity for that..!!!

Does that mean that when you were running 8 minute miles, you were actually "wind assisted", Flanks???