Phil gave myself and some other marathon runners a really motivational speech before the event. I came away with a sincere admiration for this guy and I don’t think I’ve ever come across someone who has such a determination for charity.

So when I found out that Phil is doing the London Marathon again this year I was understandably impressed. But this year he has set himself a target of 26 hours and will be dedicating each mile of his walk to a different charity.

You can see a list of charities at his home page, but Phil’s first mile will be dedicated to Arthritis Research UK and he’ll be walking with Catherine Bull (22) who has Rheumatoid Arthritis. You can leave a message of support or leave a donation at the ‘Starting With Arthritis‘ page.

If you have any other amazing marathon stories then feel free to leave a comment below this post and tell us about it!

Image by shimelle via Flickr

An advert for a show on Channel 4 caught my attention last week. The show, entitled Tracing the Marathon’s Millions, would follow journalist Ben Laurence as he looked into the costs involved in staging the London Marathon and the amount of money the race organisers actually pay out to charity.

Skip forward to the morning prior to the programme and the London Marathon issue a statement saying:

The London Marathon Limited and the London Marathon Charitable Trust Limited totally deny any allegations of wrongdoing and are surprised and shocked at the lack of evidence presented by the programme’s so-called investigative team to support this desperate attempt to undermine one of the world’s finest sporting events.

Translation; take Friday’s show with a pinch of salt.

As a runner, who, after the 25th April, will have run the London Marathon twice (raising over £4100 for charity through the Golden Bond scheme), I immediately went on the defensive and watched the show begrudgingly on Friday night. I do work in the media and I don’t claim to have a specialist knowledge on the subject. But I do know when to take a news story seriously and when to recognise a quote or a half-truth taken completely out of context to give a story a more sensationalist spin.

But after watching the show on Friday, I didn’t find myself overly aggravated. The makers of Dispatches were taking a big risk in making this programme. Back in 1991 Channel 4 were made to pay out a vast sum of money after the show made unsubstantiated claims about the London Marathon founders. This, coupled with this year’s announcement that the London Marathon has helped raise over half a billion pounds for charity since its inception, makes you wonder why the Dispatches show would target such a popular entity.

Image by aubergene via Flickr

At first the show didn’t tell us anything new. I’m sure most of us are aware at how competitive the race is to enter and how the Golden Bond system works. Charities pay around £300 for a place in the marathon, meaning that in order to secure a profit they are forced to set fundraising targets for their runners (normally around the £1500 mark). It is easy to forget that £300 of the money you raise for your charity is covering the cost of your place and going back to the London Marathon.

The marathon is, of course, a charity and 100% of the profits made (after the costs of staging the event and salaries etc.) go to the London Marathon charitable trust. But Dispatches claim that only a quarter of the £18m received last year actually went to the charity. The show also went on to question the costs of staging the event and showed the salary of one particular member at a remarkable £240,000. The Marathon’s chief executive Nick Bitel however, explained on the Third Sector website that this person was paid a one-off bonus as part of their salary for saving the marathon £3m in sponsorship agency fees.

The show also shone a light on the fact that the London Marathon holds a complete monopoly over charities. It’s obviously a very popular event, which provides great exposure and awareness to some very worthwhile causes. But the odds of a charity being able to obtain a Golden Bond place if they applied now were very slim indeed (one charity representative in the show was told that he could never expect to be granted a place). This did strike me as unfair, considering that some charities have hundreds of runners.

Make no mistake about it. The show has stirred up a lot of anger amongst a lot of people (including the man responsible for the resignations of some senior BBC officials, Alastair Campbell) and the London Marathon Limited has stated that it will be referring the production company, Blakeway (who make the Dispatches show), and Channel 4 to OFCOM. This does make me wonder how accurate the show was and question how much of it to take seriously. Dispatches allegedly repeatedly rejected to meet the London Marathon team and also denied them the opportunity to appear on the show to say what they wanted to say unedited.

Did you see the show on Friday night? Please let me know what your thoughts were by posting a comment below.

Tracing the Marathon’s Millions was aired on C4, 8pm 9th April 2010. You can watch it on 4OD for a limited time here.

*Update: April 5th 2010
I updated this slideshow after I went home for the weekend and discovered another newspaper had included the story!

For those that aren’t aware, every two years the people at Comic Relief and BBC Sport team up to raise a massive amount for charity, as well as uniting the sporting community and providing an entertaining night of TV for the British public. This year’s main celebrity contribution has come from Eddie Izzard, who ran 43 marathons in 52 days in aid of this cause (painful ice-bath video here). The Sport Relief Mile allows individuals from all over the country to run a mile and get friends and family to sponsor them. Money raised will either go to some of the poorest countries in the World, or will stay at home to help underprivileged people in the UK.

Even my 7-year-old brother was involved this year. His school took part, running 4 laps of their school field. But the little Mini Sir Jog A Lot ended up doing 10 laps! Show off.

The run was staged around Bristol’s College Green and as there were so many people running, the race was set off in waves. Doing 6 miles, as I was, meant 6 laps around a one-mile course. I was in this to get a good time. My marathon training plan said “10km race – hard effort” so I was keen to keep a sub 8-mile an hour pace.

Bang! We’re off (click – turn the watch on) and the serious athlete Sir Jog A Lot immediately realises he’s taking this event far too seriously. It’s not a race, it’s a fun run. I still wanted a good time, but I wasn’t going to get annoyed by having to dodge rollerbladers, musicians, 3-year-olds, hula hoopers and mankini-clad nutters (even though another wave of runners was released right into my path on the 4th lap).

Sadly, it was all over before it had begun. The hilly little 6 laps (which turned out to be only 5.58 miles according to the GPS) went by in 43 minutes. I was bloody pleased with that! I was on course for a 47-minute 10k and had a good laugh in the process. Last time I checked, Sport Relief had raised over £30 million. A fabulous effort in which half of the country seems to have been a part of. And on top of that, a good quality medal and a goodie bag to boot!

A special mention to my running partners Hannah (3 miles) and Jess (6 miles), whom I rudely left behind right at the start! I wasn’t taking it seriously, honest…

If there ever was a frank reminder of those, not just running the marathon, but who decide to perform magnificent feats in the name of charity, then the JustGiving awards was it.

Last year, JustGiving came under some scrutiny in the media. The spin was that people were claiming to be emotionally blackmailed into donating via online charity sites such as them. An unnamed Daily Mail columnist (no surprises there) would not be bullied into donating via the web when she could just as easily donate her cash and know that all of her money was going straight to her charity.

But when Major Phil Packer manages to raise over £1.3 million for Help for Heroes, or a campaign to stop X-Factor from claiming yet another Christmas #1 raises over £100,000 for Shelter in less than 2 months, you have to face facts. Since its inception in 1999, JustGiving has helped over 8,000 charities raise over £450 million. None of this would have been possible without the ease and speed at which users are able to donate online.

But, JustGiving admit themselves that they would be nothing without their fundraisers. So what better way to show their appreciation than by throwing their first ever awards ceremony in London to celebrate the amazing people that give up their lives for others.

There were four categories; Most Innovative Fundraiser, Most Popular Fundraiser, Most Successful Fundraiser and the Incredible Achievement award.

Most Innovative Fundraiser Winner – Simon Painter and David Wood
Si and Big Dave, dressed in orange prison jump suits, blagged their way from Manchester to Luanda, Angola armed with nothing more than their passports. So far they’ve raised over £2,500 for the KidsCan Cancer Research Centre and they hit this target with a heap of donations from strangers on their 30 hour journey, who’d seen the JustGiving link printed on their sleeves. I was sat on the table next to these guys and after winning the award it was clearly a very emotional moment. But that didn’t stop them all from getting on Twitter! Youtube video of the moment they won here.

Most Popular Fundraiser Winner – Sophie Atay
When Sophie Atay was 15 months old her mother felt a lump on her tummy. She was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer called stage four neuroblastoma and the antibody treatment that would give her a better chance of survival would cost over $500,000. But after Sophie’s story was featured in the media, 40,000 people went to her JustGiving page and her total now stands at over £500,000. She was unable to be at the event as she is now in New York undergoing the treatment.

Most Successful Fundraiser – Phil Packer
I ran the marathon last year with Phil and I smashed his time! Well, when I say ‘ran with him’, I really mean that I ran the same marathon as him. And when I say ‘smashed his time’ it might be worth mentioning that Major Packer lost the use of his legs after a spinal cord injury sustained while fighting in Iraq. After being told by doctors that he’d never walk again, Phil walked the London Marathon 2009 over the course of 14 days but has also completed a number of other challenges (including rowing the Channel!), raising over £1.3 million for Help For Heroes.

N.B. Instead of reeling off an acceptance speech, Phil probably raised about £1000 for Robyn Higgins that night by suggesting people raise their hands if they would like to donate £10 to her cause. He also pledged to donate £100 himself

Incredible Achievement Award Winner – Will Hemsley, Jonathan Hughes and Nick Mclelland
(AKA Ride2Recovery)
After Will’s brother suffered spinal injuries after a stabbing in 2008, him and two friends decided to organise the challenge of the century to raise money for Aspire and Spinal Research. 24 rugby-playing lads completed a 600-mile bike ride through England, France and Switzerland and have so far raised over £78,000.

Overall, a smashing, emotional roller-coaster ride of an event and a great chance to meet the JustGiving team. The big message I’ve taken from the night is not to forget the reason you’re running for your charity. A more heartfelt and genuine story is likely to result in much more donations. The stories told at the awards put my fundraising idea to shame so it’s time to get my finger out and start getting down to the real reason I’m running.

Well done to all award winners and all nominees.

P.S. An added bonus to the evening. I finally got to meet ‘Rhino Head’ Becki Button (famous in the London Marathon tweeting world of 2009). She was fasten-ating. Get it?

If you were lucky enough to have been given a ballot place, then count yourself lucky indeed! You had less than a 1 in 5 shot. 100,000 entrants will have been turned down to run in 2010. I was one of them so thank your lucky stars you even have a shot.

If you managed to grab a charity place then count yourself even luckier. To grab one of the 12,500 guaranteed places you have a 1 in 8 shot!

Unless you’re a celebrity, the hardest part of the London Marathon is getting in!

Guaranteed (Golden Bond) places come at a cost. Sponsorship targets range from £1000 – £2500 and most charities will make you sign a form to say that you will have banked the money by a certain date. For the 2009 marathon my target was £2000, which I smashed by over £400. But in order to do that I had to win an amateur video competition, beg my company for a sizeable donation and rely on the huge generosity of my friends and family, who will no doubt be suffering from ‘donor fatigue’ this time around.

I’ll be covering off unique ways to raise money in this blog in the months to come. But before that I have to plug my own!

To help me reach my sponsorship target of £1500, Sir Jog A Lot has begun a Sponsor this block! campaign. Businesses, websites, bloggers and individuals can all be part of the campaign by donating to the Lymphoma Association and sponsoring a block on SJAL’s sponsorship wall. Your block will act as an advert; you can upload a picture and your block will link back to your website/blog.

The wall will stay up until 31st December 2010 and the more you sponsor, the higher up the wall your block will appear. Donations can be as little as £2 and please don’t worry if that’s all you can give. You’ll still get a block!

If you are one of the top 4 sponsors, your block will appear of every page on the Sir Jog A Lot blog. Click here or on any of the blocks on the right-hand side to donate. Donations are accepted via JustGiving and your money will go directly to the Lymphoma Association (there’s nothing Million Dollar Homepage about this blog!).

Thank you so much for your support. A very very close family member was nearly taken from us by Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a nasty form of cancer. I think you’ll agree that the Lymphoma Association deserves every penny it can get.

On the rare occasion that you actually spot a shirt that hugs the biceps and doesn’t flap around in the air conditioning from your local gym then go over, shake that person’s hand and ask them if they’d like a running partner. The likelihood is that this person has finished the JPMorgan CC in under 24 minutes.

Every year business moguls in their thousands turn up to one of their city’s finest parks to run the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge, an event now over 30 years old and so popular that it boasts nearly a quarter of a million entrants each year across the globe. Part of its popularity is probably down to the length of the race; a manageable 3.5 miles. This gives even the hardest working city trader time to put down his or her Blackberry a couple of times a week to train.

If you’re lucky enough to get a place then the first question you’ll be asked is whether or not you think you can run 3.5 miles in under 21 minutes. If you think you can then you’ll be given a red sticker and, on arrival, you’ll be ushered to the front of the line to be given a relatively clear run to the finish. If you don’t then be prepared for an elbow-jousting scrap for one square-foot of asphalt at every other step.

The London event is hosted at the beautiful Battersea Park and is a utter schmooze-fest. If you’re a client of one of the corporate giants attending then you’ll be in for plastic glasses and private portaloos. If not, feel free to be intimidated by the size of another company’s hospitality tent and get in the queue for the sub-£5 million-a-year toilets.

It’s a very crowded race once you’ve managed to get over the start line so don’t be expecting to be beating any PBs. You’ll be lucky to get under a minute over your usual time (the London race actually ground to a halt during one bottle-necked corner). The atmosphere makes up for this though. Each year all companies compete in a t-shirt competition and this makes for an interesting read as you progress (this year’s London event was won by Tudor Capital). There’s also an award for the fastest ‘most senior executive’ and, as you can imagine, an incredible amount of money is raised for causes across the globe ($600,000 to charities and even more for not-for-profit organisations).

At the end you’ll get the fabled JPMCC t-shirt and if you’re quick enough, you’ll get one in your size! Wear it with pride.

I, very foolishly, dived straight in to pick up my marathon survival pack from the Lucozade Sport stand (we were all given vouchers) and parted with my £8 to receive a ridiculous amount of goodies. Of course it weighed a ton (it all being liquid) and I ended up standing around while Sally tried on everything she saw.

Dotted around the Excel centre were big boards absolutely full of good luck messages for friends, family and loved ones. There was a huge feeling of camaraderie. Everyone there had a common goal, some looking very nervous and others who were taking a chance to stock up on some discounted running goodies from the stands, but all smiling and very eager.

What can you expect if you’re going? Pasta, lots of pasta. At the back of the room there was a Pasta Party in progress. Bring a bit of cash and you can attend and listen to a few presentations on the stage. There are also two opportunities to get a quick sports massage (one from Addidas and one from the students of Middlesex University). I did neither. I’m scared witless of damaging something before Sunday so I declined.

There are also loads of places to pick up marathon gadgets like GPS watches, shoe wallets, mp3 player holders and bum-bags so if you need any last minute accessories then this is the place to be. If you have to, you can also get almost any running trainer available, but obviously for after the marathon as you shouldn’t be trying anything new for race day.

For the charity runners among you there is a Justgiving stand, where you can enter a competition for a donation. The challenge, draw a picture of yourself and your Justgiving page (some examples here). Sally did mine while I had my photo taken with John and Jon from Justgiving. John played my video through his iPhone while Jon tweeted about it!

So what do you get in the London Marathon Expo goodie bags? A can of London Pride (for the night after), a jar of cranberry juice, 2 sugar free sweets, foot cream, a granola bar, deodorant, some massage gel and a LOT of leaflets. Not bad when you couple it with the amount of goodies you can pick up on the day.

However, my advice is, if you have to go on Saturday then try and get round everything as fast as you can. There’s a lot to see and do but not a lot of places to sit down. Like every major shopping venue, the floors are rock hard and it’ll tire you out quickly (the last thing you want before the marathon when you should be resting)…

This will be my last post before the marathon (tomorrow will be spent on the sofa doing as little as possible). I’d just like to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has read and commented on this blog. I’ve enjoyed every minute of writing it and the tips, advice and encouragement I’ve received has been overwhelming. Please come back after the marathon and I’ll let you know how I got on.

For those that aren’t running, Adidas have a system that allows you to track the people you know as they go round using the timing chips attached to their shoes. Just enter their number in to this website. Mine is 41333.

To all those running on Sunday, if you spot me then please come and say hello. I admire anyone who has the determination to train for as many months as it takes to complete a marathon and I’d love to chat to you. I’ll have Sir Jog A Lot written on the back of my vest and will be in the Red area. If I don’t see you then the best of luck to you…

Looking back on it, it probably wasn’t the best idea to push myself that hard the week before the race and I was feeling decidedly guilty today. I’d never have forgiven myself if I’d have injured myself with one week to go, but it’s an incredibly difficult situation to be in. I’ve spent 15 weeks in training to get to this point and have become used to five runs of a healthy distance a week. To go from that kind of regime to running 20 minutes here, 10 minutes there, leaves you feeling a bit useless and it’s very difficult to relax. I don’t know what I’m going to be like after the marathon, but at the moment I can’t sit still! I’m worried I’m going to take all of this energy, run like a 4-year-old at the start of the marathon and burn out after 5 miles.

To take my mind off exercise I’ve come up with a checklist for this week:

Tuesday – (10 minutes at race pace with a warm up/cool down)

• Buy Compeed
• Get home and run around the park at Blackheath

Wednesday – (30 mins very easy)

• Collect remaining sponsorship from office co-workers who haven’t paid yet (Wednesday is pay day)
• Go to gym and watch The Simpsons while running on treadmill
• Write blog post

Thursday – (Rest or 25 mins easy)

• Buy seven new DVDs
• Go to gym, run and say goodbye to everyone until next year
• Put running number registration form in my bag so I don’t forget it for Friday and make sure I have my driving license

Friday – (Rest)

• Print off race course map for family and mark points to meet them (remembering to decide on which side of the road to be on)
• Go to Marathon Expo to pick up running number and timing chip (using registration form and driving license)
• Buy ‘Marathon Survival Kit’ from Expo using voucher on page 13 of Marathon News magazine
• Visit Justgiving* stand, Running Free** stand and Bupa London 10,000*** stand
• Eat big bowl of pasta
• Write blog post

Saturday – (15 mins very, very easy jog)

• Get up early and do run (to tire myself out and fall asleep faster in the evening)
• Cut toenails
• Fit timing chip to trainers
• Fill out the back of my running number and pin it to my vest
• Plan where to meet family at end of race
• Watch all seven DVDs back-to-back
• Eat the biggest bowl of pasta I’ve ever seen
• Give family MS Society cheering pack (equipped with balloons, inflatable sticks and flags)
• Sleep

Sunday – (Race day!)

• Eat baked beans on brown toast and one banana
• Have two Lucozade Sport pouches (one at 8am and one at 9am)
• Do 20 push-ups to get the guns looking plumper before donning running vest
• Walk to start line (sorry guys, I live 30 seconds from it)
• Get interviewed for MS Society video
• Say goodbye to friends and family
• Take empty plastic bottle
• Hide the fact that you are peeing into empty plastic bottle under orange rain mac
• Throw bottle to side of road
• GO!

* To thank them for all of their efforts over the past few months
** Running Free magazine have agreed to do a small piece on me for their post marathon edition
*** I’ll be running the Bupa London 10k a month after the marathon

Today my employer put my London Marathon sponsorship total over the £2000 mark (£100 over it actually) and I reached my allocated sponsorship for the MS Society. With 9 days left to go until my first marathon this gives me the opportunity to relax a little and to focus my efforts on getting ready for the big day.

I’m well and truly tapering off for the big day and, if I’m honest, I feel a little lazy. This week I’ve only done two runs so far and will being running 25 minutes on Saturday with an easy 10k on Sunday. I feel like I’m slacking as every part of me wants to be getting as much training in as possible before the 26th. I constantly worry that I’m going to undo all my hard work by not exercising enough but getting enough rest before the marathon is crucial.

So, to keep my mind off running, I’ll fill you in on a little more news…

356

The number of miles I’ve clocked up since I started training. This has been calculated from the 3560 minutes I know I’ve run and estimating an average speed of 10-minute miles. Some people seem to think this is quite low but, considering I’m counting from the beginning of January, it equates to an average of more than 23 miles a week. Basically, bugger off, I’ve done loads.

211018

The number of pennies I’ve raised so far (using Justgiving) for the MS Society. This morning, BBC Breakfast and a Daily Mail columnist (who blatantly took a negative stance just to get her grumpy face on television) made poor old Anne-Marie Huby (MD of Justgiving) justify Justgiving to the public after claims that fundraising websites are a form of emotional blackmail. Considering JG has helped raise over £400,000,000 since the year 2000 and without it’s help I wouldn’t have even come close to raising £2k, I won’t exactly be losing any sleep at night.

3099

The number of hits this blog has had since it’s debut in January. The busiest day was 23rd March after the I won the Justgiving competition and this blog featured in the JG newsletter.

7

The number of pounds (lbs) I’ve lost in weight. This is after initially gaining 7 lbs so I’ve managed to shed a stone since then. This was achieved by simply cutting out my daily early morning croissant. They’re fatty little blighters. I’m now as streamlined and aerodynamic as I’ll ever be.

206

The number of Twitter followers I now have. Most are all supreme athletes, fundraisers, bloggers and nutcases but they all have had at least one thing useful to say and it’s been a great way to stay in touch with this wonderful running community across the country.

4:14:2

My estimated marathon time having used the Runner’s World Race Time Predictor. I entered my half-marathon time to come to that conclusion. If I enter the best time I’ve done a 10k in it reckons I can do it under 4 hours. I’ll be watching out for the Runner’s World pace makers on the day.