I’ve entered the ballot for London maybe 6 or 7 times but have never got an entry. Don’t know if it changed this year (I missed the entry deadline) but I didn’t have to pay a fee to enter the ballot.
London is one of the cheapest marathons in the UK at £39. A bargain, if you can actually get in it 
There’s always the Do-It-Yourself Marathon:
If the inside lanes are blocked off, then, presumably, the lane lines are permanently marked, as the only reason to block off the inside lanes is to prevent casual runners from wearing them down too much so they can be kept in condition for track meets, and there is a way to calculate how far you have to run in a particular lane.
I used to live just a quarter-mile off the Boston Marathon course in Wellesley. I’ve ridden the whole course on my bike.[sup]*[/sup] In fact I once rode from Wellesley to the start, then the whole course, then back home; 52 miles, at least. It’d be great to do it someday when it’s closed to traffic, but the streets are there all year. It’s not very hard to follow.
I ran Boston in 2011 (charity bib), and worked the starting line from 2014-2016 as a corral wrangler. There are now 4 waves, kicking off 25 minutes apart; 10:00, 10:25, 10:50, and 11:15. The first wave is very professional, they’ve all been through this rodeo before. The second wave is mostly the same. The third wave is a mix of good older runners and young runners doing their first major marathon. Most are nervous and difficult to control in the starting corrals. Wave 4 is the wild West. Many charity runners are running their first marathon or are in near panic. It’s amusing to watch, but difficult to wrangle. I’ve mostly worked the last two corrals, so people are nervous about running through the field in front of them, or worried about taking 5 minutes to hit the starting line.
Right now there’s the usual grumbling by runners who made their BQ times but were cut off, some by as little as 1 second. They think there are too many charity runners, or that first timers should get special dispensation, and are upset that the 2020 times are 5 minutes faster.
Hiked 85 miles with a 33,000’+ elevation gain Lamosangu to Everest Base Camp (18,000’+) in 18 days.
Nowadays, they have a chip in their shoelaces that gives them their real times. Back in the 1980s, when I was a runner and followed the sport more closely, I heard stories about back-of-the-packers taking as long as 15 minutes to cross the starting line.
As part of my duties for the 2016 marathon, I carried the sign that indicates the end of the corral to the spotters/timers. Since we were in the last corral, I was the last person to cross the starting line that year. It takes about 5-7 minutes from the sound of the gun until I crossed, but there are some lingerers near the back taking pictures and enjoying themselves so it may be quicker for the earlier waves.
But even with everyone knowing that their time is based on the chip they’re still nervous and anxious. The first two waves aren’t, but the last two feel the need to get across the start line ASAP. I think there’s also a lot of juggling to get past slower runners that worries them. The first two miles of Boston is a fairly steep downhill and some runners like to go out fast. Plus, some have been waiting close to 3 hours in the runner’s village and just need to GET MOVING!
Thanks for the correction and I apologise for the misinformation - I thought I had heard it was £90 to enter the ballot and no refunds, clearly I was mistaken.
I do believe they had a system whereby if you are unsuccessful in the ballot 4 years in a row, you are guaranteed a spot if you enter the next year, but not sure if that still applies.
Well, they haven’t avoided a high altitude location since then because they don’t want records broken. They’re avoided it because there just hasn’t been any other realistic applicant city at that high an altitude.
There aren’t a great many cities that could host a Summer Games, and damn few of them are at high altitude. Mexico City is by far the highest city in the world that could, realistically, host an Olympics - I don’t think Bogota or Kathmandu are putting in bids anytime soon.
Hell, they’re running out of cities to host the Olympics at all. 2024 and 2028 will be in Paris and Los Angeles because no one else wanted them.
nm
Ran Chicago 14 yrs ago. Something like 30k runners, and no qualifying time. My goal was 4:00 - which would be IIRC 9:15 pace per mile. Fearing the worst, I actually started a corral or 2 up - maybe at 3:50 pace. Maybe in doing so I contributed to the problem. Can’t recall how long it took to get to the start - was at least 10 min - I suspect closer to 20-30. The first mile was literally elbow-to-asshole. Couldn’t see the pavement, was touching people on all sides. Ran it in something like 13 minutes. The next 25 miles was a continual effort of passing people while trying to not break stride. Within 5 miles I was passing assholes who had started even further up than me, but were walking several abreast, having a grand old time.
After that 13 minute mile 1, I finished the race in 4:00:53 - WELL under pace. Pissed me off that that 1st mile and all the people starting too far up prevented me from hitting my goal. Not an experience I have had any urge to repeat.
In case anyone is interested, I completed the century yesterday. It was rough - but mainly, I think, because I hadn’t prepped enough. Hadn’t put in the miles.
Was aiming at a 13 MPH pace and 8 hrs. Finished in 8:39.
Positive 25 mile splits - ugh!
1:48 - 13.9 MPH
2:06 - 11.9 MPH
2:11 - 11.45 MPH
2:19 - 10.8 MPH
It got warmer than we had expected - 81 and sunny at 1 point. The hills in the last 3d kicked my butt. My 62 yr old sister was WAY stronger than me. In terms of difficulty, I’d put it as tougher than either a marathon or hiking the Grand Canyon, simply because the act of biking was more difficult for me than simply plodding along - putting one foot in front of the other. By the end, my ass and my left hand were quite painful. And fighting up those hills in my lowest gear was torture.
And - to add insult to injury - the damn route was 102 miles! :mad: 
Glad I did it, but not eager to repeat. Sitting on a pillow as I type… 
I volunteered at a local triathlon a few years ago, called Californiaman, I think. Anyway, I was stationed in the transition tent between bike and run legs. The bike leg was supposed to 112 miles, but as some of the elite athletes began to arrive at the tent, furious and complaining, I overheard what had occurred. They were angry because their odometers said 112 miles, but they were still out on the prairie south of town, and no one knew how much further it was to the transition. Turns out it was another 3-4 miles of riding. I can understand that - it probably threw a lot of them off their expectations. I later learned the course planners had not actually driven all the roads of the bike leg, because some of them were on private property, and they did not have permission the day they measured the route. :smack:
Regarding the Mexico City Olympics and the high elevation - I recently did a hike from Echo Summit, near Lake Tahoe, and learned that was the site of the 1968 Track and Field Olympic trials and training camp.
Here is a nice 4 min video commemorating the site in 2014, with some of the athletes from the time.