Strenua's World

Investigating the training, treatments, diets and science behind a healthy active life

Are you Good For your Age? Don’t miss the deadline for 2010 London Marathon entries

Posted on August 09th, 2009 in Competitive Sport, Marathon Training, Running, Training

Marathon 26 mile mark As usual I have left things to the last minute, but I finally got round this week to send in my ‘Good For Age’ proof for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon which takes place on Sunday 25th April. If you already have a particularly fast marathon time since Jan 1^st 2008 then don’t forget to send in your proof for guaranteed entry. The deadline is 21^st August with the completed entry forms needing to be submitted by 4^th September.

You can apply for a good for age entry if you’ve run a full marathon in the same time, or faster than, the times listed below:

Men	Time (in hours)	Women	Time (in hours)
Age 18 – 40	2.45 – 3.00	Age 18 – 49	3.15 – 3.45
Age 41 – 59	sub 3.15	Age 50 – 54	sub 4.00
Age 60 – 64	sub 3.30	Age 55 – 59	sub 4.15
Age 65 – 69	sub 4.00	Age 60 – 64	sub 4.30
Age 70+	sub 5.00	Age 65 – 69	sub 5.30
		Age 70+	sub 6.30

If you are Championship standard and have achived the standard below, then you have until 2 January 2010 to submit your proof.

Men	Time (in hours)	Women	Time (in hours)
Full marathon	sub 2.45	Full marathon	sub 3.15
Half marathon	sub 1.15	Half marathon	sub 1.30

More information about Good For Age entries can be found here or for Championship entries here. If you entered in the general ballot you will find out in early October.

Before London next year I have a few other races lined up. It is twelve weeks till the New York City marathon so if you are running it you should be well into your training schedule. Normally I just build on my fitness with some longer runs added to my existing training schedule, but as I’m recovering from an injury my base fitness and speed isn’t as good as I would like. This week I managed a slow 19 miles at 9.30min/mile pace. Although it has seemed to have not stopped raining all week I managed to choose the only consecutive 3 hours when the sun was out. In spite of taking drinks with me and running along a canal, so I can refill my bottle from a tap by the lock, it was hard to keep hydrated.

As there are no long training runs organised in my area to train for autumn marathons I have decided to enter the Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham next month, Sunday 13th September 2009, and use it as a long training run. The marathon is part of the Experian Festival of Running and the half marathon runners join you on the first 12.5miles of the course, it also means that if you don’t feel up to 26.2 miles on the day you can always finish at 13.1 and still get a time and medal. Marathon entries for affiliated runners is £29 and £22.50 for the half if you enter before the 19^th August. This year entries for both events are £20 for the unemployed. There are lots of running events planned on the day from kids races to relays, and you can click here for more information.