Why do people run the London Marathon for charity places?

It's fair to say that most people choose not to do a marathon in their lifetime. Firstly it's long way, requires a lot of training, and seemingly is a race that is set aside for the elite to participate in only to make themselves look immortal to the humiliated general public who gather at the mass blue and red starts behind them. These people fall into the bucket that are happy to say one word, never.

Then there are the folk who do pluck up the courage and enter, and if luck is behind them, get a place to run. Whether or not it was via a ballot place or charity Gold Bond, those successful in completing often mutter the two fateful words, never again. There are two winners on the day, anyone receiving a finishers medal, and the charities who benefit from millions of pounds raised for good causes.

And finally, there's a smaller group of people outside of the professional athletes, who seem to want to do it again and again. There are three words for this group, stupid bloody fools. In all seriousness though, people who voluntarily do any marathon repeatedly, regardless of location, generally have a personal goal that they are desperate to fulfil. That could be raising money and awareness for a given charity or to get a personal best time and be satisfied that the time goes down in family tree history.

The London Marathon is a pretty special event. This year was the 30th Anniversary and the first year for new sponsors Virgin, who had taken over from Flora's 14 year tenure since 1996. Having lived almost all my adult life with Flora being the lead sponsor, and being my margerine slash buttery spread of choice, I had to do it. I had to do it once.

Motivation for doing it is quite simply selfish reasons. Ask anyone, they are always gutted that they didn't get in through the ballot. This isn't a reflection that they didn't want to do it for charity in the first place, it is just people want a no obligation pass, a risk free, guilt free, opportunity to do it for themselves. The only pressure is on them. Do it, and do it fast. Simple.

Personally I set myself a goal of doing the London Marathon three times with no time pressures of by when. Accepting that it's nigh impossible to get in via the ballot, doing it three times would allow me to do it once for charity, once for me, and once in fancy dress, possibly over a few decades of frequently entering and getting a couple of magic ballot places and a Gold Bond place.

It was about 10 years ago that I was sharing a flat with a good friend of mine, and the previous tennant had a Marathon News magazine come through the post. We both pondered on the feasibility of our youthful bodies, which were in their early twenties, taking upon such a challenge. Of course, we were in our prime; fit, healthy and can regularly do all-nighters, it would be a doddle. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm lasted as long as the next pint.

In 2003 I entered to run the Flora London Marathon 2004. I remember getting the Loser magazine informing me that I was unsuccessful in getting through the ballot. I actually wanted to run it and raise money for an arthritis charity as my dad was having a hip replacement at a relatively young age.

I did about 12 weeks of training, which came to a stop after completing the Kingston 16 mile Breakfast Run. Injuring my illiotibial bands, the ligaments across the side of the knees, meant that getting across the finishing line was going to be very hard. It was. Finishing in 5:56:25 having spent almost all of it in pain, I was overwhealmed with the support and donations from friends and family. A total over £3,500 for the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) was raised.

I put this attempt down as the charity run, as it wasn't in fancy dress and certainly was not the one for me.

The summer of 2006 came about and I decided to put another entry in for the 2007 marathon. Motivation was simply weight loss and get fit. Amazingly I get in through the ballot, but life dealt myself and wife a shit couple of cards, and training didn't start until 6 weeks before. It wasn't really training as the furthest I ran was 6 miles the week before.

I decided to raise money again for charity, this time for the Miscarriage Association and raised in a very short space of time just over £1,000. A better finish time of 5:21:19 in what was quite a warm day. It must have been the knowlege of having done once already and not being in pain all the way round, that made this a personal best.

But this time wasn't good enough to stand the test of time as my PB. How could I pass this finishing time down to the family tree with a sigh of disappointment that I knew I could do better with a full 16 weeks training.

In 2008, I put another cheeky entry in to run the 2009 London Marathon. This tome the motivation was just get in, run it and get a decent enough time whilst basking in the glory of weightloss.

OMG, I got in again with the ballot. I really should have made a mental note on whether to bequeath the entry fee and what the expected time was. The conspiracies of entering the marathon is well discussed on the web, see for yourself.

Spring 2009 and I was all fired up. Training was going well. I even put in some high altitude mountain training whilst in Berne, Switzerland on a work trip. Sponsorship was starting to trickle in from the early adopters, with money raised going to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

With no minimum donation restrictions put on me, because I was voluntarily raising money for the NCT, it was a kind gesture from myself giving something back and recognising the support the charity provided me as a new dad.

I can't thank the NCT enough, having become a first time parent in 2008, the antenatel classes were convenient and surprisingly entertaining. It was the group that made the latter, seven other couple facing the same experiences and all expecting around the same time. Some nice friends have come out of this on my side, but more a case of bloke bonding over a curry or a few pints on a Friday night. The mum's actually got the most value, as they were stuck home by themselves and the regular meet ups and flurry of calls, texts and emails, made sure they survived another day and sleepless night.

The NCT classes are run by volunteers. So setting a target of £1,000 was going to help them a lot.

Unfortunately, having a baby and training for the marathon at the same time is tough. Why on earth I decided to sign up for this is anyone's guess. Yet with all the will in the world to train, and make this a good'un, I pulled my hamstring a few months before the race. And to admit it was the kids fault is not passing the blame. I lifted him up cross legged in an awkward angle and paid the price. The 2009 London Marathon was no more.

Thankfully, you can defer a place due to sickness or injury. Hooray, a guaranteed place for the Virgin London Marathon 2010. How exciting to be part of this, just a year to get fit (again). Seems all to familiar.

However, after ballooning up to a chunky 15 stone in weight near the end of November 2009, drastic times called for drastic measures. I needed to lose weight, as the camera never lies when some photos with the celebrities made me look even worse. So I decided to cut out for 5 whole months 1) alcohol and 2) chocolate. This dedication would show friends and family the commitment I had towards completing the marathon with a killer time, and likely to raise more money than hoped.

After a streak of really bad illnesses, I came out of Xmas and into the new year lighter on my feet. All prepared for the marathon, it then suddenly snowed. And boy did it snow! A day or do later, disaster. I slipped in the ice and damaged what seemed to be my ankle. This turned out to be the tib posterior.

Months later, after plenty of visits to the physio, I turned up at Greenwich Park on the 25th April 2010. No training whatsoever, but determined and focussed. It was going be the run walk pace (run 5 mins and walk 1 minute). Get round and get a medal. The mission was complete and raise the remainder of the sponsorship target for the NCT.

Considering it pissed down with rain just before the beginning and the 50 SPF lotion dripping into my eyes, it brightened up and I dug in and completed in a personal best time of 5:14:50. Not bad for no training. I beat a whole stack in celebrities too!

I'll write a proper post-marathon race report later, but wanted to acknowledge the NCT who were at the finish. They really were appreciative of the team of runners who were raising money for them. Apparently about 20% of their annual fundraising comes from the London Marathon, so this is a nice pay day for them.

Which brings me back to the original question, why do it? For the proper runner, that's a professional to a fairly serious runner (those who commit to going out each week), it's hardly about charity. I'd imagine it's about PB's, discipline and a sense of achievement. For us mere mortals, the unfit, the semi-fit and occasional sports fairing individuals, it is about achievement but more about making a difference. Whether that be raising awareness of issues, charities and campaigns, or raising money for the less advantaged and simply doing good, you can always look back and gloatfully boast you did it.

As the 2010 congratulatory marathon t-shirt says on the front.... LonDONE.