London Marathon 2009
You will never forget it - that feeling as you swing past Buckingham Palace and into The Mall, 26 miles behind you, 200 yards to go. The cheering, the waving, the roar of the crowd, the bright colours, the ecstasy of finishing. You're a marathon runner. Never forget it.
Apply for a 2009 Marathon place
Taking on the Flora London Marathon is one of the most memorable and worthwhile things you’ll ever do. Run it with Oxfam, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.
Your first step: getting a place
There are two ways to run the Marathon with Oxfam. Firstly, there are our Gold Bond places. These are given to kind folk who agree to raise at least £2000 in sponsorship.
The other way is through the official ballot. If you’ve applied for a ballot place (before it closed in May), you’ll find out if you’ve been successful in October. If you haven’t already applied, unfortunately you’ve missed the boat, so cast your eyes back to the Gold Bond bit!
If you do get a ballot place, we'd love to have you on the Oxfam team. There’s no need to set a fundraising target, but we’ll still give you advice on raising money and training.
What’s in it for you?
The moment you decide to run the Marathon with Oxfam, you officially become a hero. So we treat you like one. We’ll be there for you from the very moment you sign up right through to our post-race reception – just a few paces from the finishing line at the British Academy.
Gold bond runners can look forward to everything listed. Ballot runners get everything except the ones marked with an asterisk – but just raise £800 or more and you’ll get those too.
Before the big day
- A briefing where you’ll be given expert advice about training, nutrition, and fundraising
- A direct number for our ever-friendly fundraising support team
- Monthly training tips by email
- A fundraising poster that makes it ludicrously easy to raise £150
- Details about Justgiving - where you can set up a fundraising webpage guaranteed to make your life easier and help the money come flooding
- The Oxfam running vest, in all its glory (make sure you wear it in before the Marathon)
- Access to all the wit and wisdom on Oxfam’s Facebook group for runners
During the run
- The excited cheers of dedicated Oxfam supporters, whose only mission for the day is to put a spring in your step.
And in the afterglow of success
- Entry to the post-race reception for Oxfam runners. Held at the British Academy, which overlooks the finish, it’s the perfect place to eat, drink and be massaged, and to meet up with friends and family*
- A nice, clean souvenir T-shirt, for you to show off in *
- A certificate to commemorate your achievement.
* Ballot runners need to raise at least £800 before you get the benefits marked with an asterisk.
Your legs are worth a lot to a lot of people.
Run the Flora London Marathon with Oxfam and it won’t just be your life that changes. So if you need a bit of inspiration during one of your training runs, just think about this…
Your money could help us to provide essential relief after a disaster. It could help to fund our long-term development work. And it could go towards campaigning – our constant efforts to push for changes that will make the world fairer and safer.
It’s simple really. By running the Flora London Marathon, you’ll change people’s lives.
The girls thought the day was fantastic. I explained to them what Oxfam does and they had me in tears the day before by emptying their piggy banks and giving me the money!
Frances Dodds, Oxfam Marathon runner 2005
Small selection of our favourite fundraising tips:
- Set up a Justgiving e-fundraising webpage. Very easy. Very effective.
- Ask your employer to match the amount you raise.
- Turn your junk into someone else’s treasure at a car boot sale
- Throw a party. Hire a venue, call in favours from friendly musicians/DJs/celebs, and sell tickets
Resources
- Briefing presentation – John Taylor’s guide to the marathon.
- Matched Giving
- Blogging
How to get your big shiny medal
As part of the Oxfam Marathon team we will email you training and nutritional advice in the run up to the big day. We will send you regular emails to guide you around realbuzz.com. This has everything you need to get ready for the marathon.
On your tour of realbuzz you can pick up:
Training Plans
Enjoy yourself while you get fitter with the training plan. It focuses on building your fitness over 18 weeks to get you ready for the big day. Each week's plan gives you all the training information you need as well as motivational tips and nutritional advice. There’s info for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of fitness, so you can be realistic with your plans. Running a marathon needs at least four months of commitment. It’s massively rewarding, but you can’t take it lightly.
Podcasts
There are a number of podcasts offering training advice that you can stream or download to listen to on the go.
Route Planners
Wherever you live in the UK, you can get a customised route – brilliant for keeping things interesting. Mix fast, slow, short and long runs, and find new routes to follow.
Expert Advice
Access nutritional, training and clothing wisdom – the best advice from those in the know.
Blogs
Chat with other people doing the same thing you are. Keeping a (b)log of your runs can be really satisfying as you watch yourself improving. A marathon blog with stories and photos are good so your sponsors can see the effort you’re putting in.
Plus loads more.
Resources
- Nutritional Guide (PDF)
- Glycaemic Index (PDF)
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Run the Marathon for Oxfam in 2009
Very easy. Very effective.
What difference can you make?
and we could buy 11 bicycle ambulances
