Do we really need virtual marathons now?

For the 16th(ish) year and the 8th(ish) in a row (possibly seven – I can’t remember how events and applications worked over the pandemic) I have missed out on the public ballot for the London Marathon. I’m not angry about it (“MY NEIGHBOURS GET IN EVERY YEAR AND THERE’S TWO OF THEM SO HOW IS IT A LOTTERY AND RAH RAH RAH”) but I am obviously disappointed.

I’ve been very lucky to not only have run it but to have completed it three times (call me greedy for wanting to do it again, go on) but it’s an event like no other and you can read about my last experience here.

The alternative options are to either run it for a charity or run it “virtually”.

My problem with a charity place is that last year I ran a 107km ultra marathon and got a lot of sponsorship for that and I don’t have a large pool of donors to draw from. Add to that the usually large (four figures) minimum sponsorship and it just becomes unattainable so I don’t take charities places from people who will probable reach their target.

So the alternative is a virtual place.

I’m not sure why this is still a thing anymore. I could (sort of) see the point of them over the last two years, but now races are up and running again (no pun intended), I don’t see the need for them.

While it’s hard to take being rejected every year, I don’t feel you can say that you’ve “run the London Marathon”, if you haven’t run the London Marathon. I can honestly say that no event I’ve ever been involved with provides the atmosphere and the sense of occasion that London provides. Disagree if you want but that’s what I believe.

On top of this, you run near your home, you run near your work, you may do some park run tourism and take in a long run there while you’re at it. But part of the challenge of running a marathon event is to test yourself on a different course over a different distance (most training plans won’t have you run much more than 20 miles before the big day). Beating the paths you’ve beaten time and again removes both the challenge and the feeling of achieving something special. How is this any different to another training run?

“You’ve run the London Marathon? That’s amazing! How was it?”

“It’s was hard but really glad I did it! Works out to be about 20 laps of Victoria Park”

“Wait… what?”

I’m sorry, but you’re not part of the event, you haven’t run the course (which is measured, by the way – don’t talk to me about Manchester or Brighton) and in my eyes you haven’t earned the medal.

For me, it’s time to end the virtual version of a physical event. You want to run a marathon? Amazing, I wish you all the best with that and genuinely hope you do well, but pick a race that you can enter and earn that medal. Support the growing community of marathon organisers and get involved with something a bit more local. London will still be there next year (and the year after if you don't get in and the year after that…)