London Marathon 2001

What is the date of the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon?
The 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon is scheduled to take place on Sunday 3 October 2021.

It has moved from its usual April date to October to maximise the chances of the mass participation event being able to take place.

When will the ballot open for the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon?
The ballot for the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon will open on Sunday 4 October and close at 17:00 on Friday 9 October 2020.

When will I find out if I have been successful in the 2021 ballot?
The 2021 ballot results will be announced in early January 2021.

If you are wanting to be considered for the 2021 club number you will have to have entered the ballot and been rejected and be able to show proof of that. The criteria at this moment will be as previously agreed by committee;

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club continuously since 1st of January 2019

2) You must produce proof of entry to the 2021 Marathon. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot have had the “club number” for the previous 3 years unless there are no members who fulfil all the criteria.

The draw for the club number will not take place until April 2021 at the earliest.

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club continuously since 1st of January 2019

2) You must produce proof of entry to the 2021 Marathon. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot have had the “club number” for the previous 3 years unless there are no members who fulfil all the criteria.

The names of all those wishing to be entered into the draw must be approved by the Committee at it's November meeting to insure that they are indeed "active" Club members.

Three Abergele Harriers took part in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon, the 39^th running of this iconic event. With Storm Hannah passing over the country the previous day, this year’s race was run in almost perfect conditions. First Harriers home, running his 3^rd London Marathon, was John Jones who this year was running for Happy Faces, a local charity raising funds in the North Wales region to help sick, disabled and disadvantaged children who live in North Wales. John ran an excellent race finishing in 3h 34mins 51secs, for 7,800 position overall and 111^th in the MV60 age category, a time that is very well within the “good for age” time for next year’s race. Not far behind was training partner for this year’s race, Nick Foden, who was running with the Club’s Official Number. Nick finished in 3h 40mins 14secs for 9,084^th overall. Third home, running her 15^th London Marathon, was Margaret Williams who had an amazing rung, not only finishing in a brilliant time for 5h 16mins 46secs for 33,338^th position but a fantastic 2^nd position overall in the FV80 category, again very well within the “good for age” time for next year.

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January 2019

2) You must produce proof of entry to the 2020 Marathon. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot have had the “club number” for the previous 3 years unless there are no members who fulfil all the criteria. This will first apply to the winner of the 2019 number and will not be backdated to previous years.

4) To be eligible for the next London Marathon club number draw members will have to complete at least 8 club races between 1/1/2019 and 30/11/2019, at least 4 of which must be League Races.

Club races include any Borders League race, any Cross Country League race, the club Handicap race (run or Marshal), the Castles relay any Grand Prix race or Marshalling our club Borders League race.

John Jones of Abergele Harriers proudly wore the Official Club number on Sunday as he lined up with the a record number of starters for the 38^th London Marathon, which this year was run in record high temperatures averaging at 23 degrees Centigrade. Starting at the Blue Start John ran an excellent race handling the conditions very well and going through the first half in 1h47m12s. Like most others in the race including new British record holder Mo Farah, John slowed a little over the second half but still managed to finish in a superb 3h49m54s for 7,540 position overall and an extremely creditable 244^th MV55.

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1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January 2018

2) You must produce proof of entry to the 2019 Marathon. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot run with the club place two years in a row unless there are no members who fulfil all the criteria.

4) To be eligible for the next London Marathon club number draw members will have to complete at least 8 club races between 1/1/2018 and 30/11/2018.

Club races include any Borders League race, any Cross Country League race, the club Handicap race (run or Marshal), the Castles relay any Grand Prix race or Marshalling our club Borders League race.

Abergele Harriers show a wide and diverse range in this year’s Virgin London Marathon, some running personal achievement and others for amazing charities they support. London is full of stories and the first Abergele Harrier over the finish line was Sean McCormack (3.33.15, 6,874th place) followed by his son Steven McCormack (3.49.44, 10,410th place) they have both set themselves an amazing challenge to run six major marathons, already completed last year Boston and New York; today saw the completion of London with Berlin in September, followed by Chicago in 2018 and Tokyo in 2019. Danny Snelson (4.15.44, 16,962nd) a new PB for him, he was also the Harriers club entry and was running for Mind. Vince Wickham (4.23.50, 18,993rd); Keith Tewkesbury our 70+ runner also running for his charity (5.10.05, 29,825); Margaret Owen Williams was our lady 70+ runner (5.12.43, 30,283rd) London always bring the best out in people and this year new Abergele Harrier member Alan Newell is our Superhero he set himself a task to run three marathons in six weeks in memory of his late wife, he finished in a great time of 5.14.57 and 30,670th place, Alan was running for a great charity Leonard Cheshire Disability.

With London Marathon rejections coming out this week a reminder to members of eligibility for the club number;

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January of the year of the draw for the places (ie the year before the Marathon in question).

2) You must produce proof of entry to the Marathon in question. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot run with the club place two years in a row unless there are no members who fulfill all the criteria.

4) To be eligible for the next London Marathon club number draw members will have to complete at least 8 club races.

Club races include any Borders League race, any Cross Country League race, the club Handicap race, the Castles relay or any Grand Prix race.

The draw for the club number(s) will take place at the Christmas Party on December 7th.

Two Abergele Harriers joined over 39000 runners to take part in the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday.

John Jones, raising money for the North Wales Cancer Appeal, had an excellent run to finish in a personal best of 3:32:17 for 7007^th overall.

James Salt, running on the club number, took the race conservatively accompanying other family members, to cross the line in 3:49:17 for 10873^rd position.

To be eligible for the next London Marathon club number draw members will have to complete at least 8 club races.

Club races include any Borders League race, any Cross Country League race, the club Handicap race, the Castles relay or any Grand Prix race.

Four Harriers ran the London Marathon on Sunday. Jodi Waters had a fantastic run, taking more than eight minutes off his time for the course last year, to run a personal best of 2h 50m 16s. James Salt, opting to run despite recent injury, and still managed a superb 3h 26m 48s. Sonia Wignall and Christobelle Pownall, recipients of the club numbers and both running their first ever marathon, did the Harriers proud by running together and finishing in 5h 22m 58s and 5h 23m 55s respectively.

Three Abergele Harriers were among the thirty six thousand runners taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday. Jodi Waters beat the 3 hour mark to run an excellent 2h 58m 24s for 1107th male. Tracey Roberts dipped under 5 hours to finish in 4h 57m 44s for 7677th female with Sharon Kynaston crossing the line in 5h 21m 25s for 9540th female.

At the AGM on Sunday 9th March 2014 the eligibility criteria for the Club's London Marathon numbers for the 2015 onwards have been approved as follows;

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January of the year of the draw for the places (ie the year before the Marathon in question).

2) You must produce proof of entry to the Marathon in question. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot get the club place two years in a row unless there are less than two members who fulfil all the criteria.

4) Members must have completed 4 Gran Prix events for the 2014 draw (2015 race), and 6 in all subsequent years.

Four Abergele Harriers were on the start line for this years London Marathon, all running superbly. First home, in a fantastic personal best time, was Andy Simpson, finishing in 3:33:32. Carol Willgoose ran her usual very steady excellent race finishing in 3:48:52 while Dave Edwards once again ran very well to finish in 4:15:25. Alan Lucas returned to London following a few years away, and completed in a very satisfactory 4:35:59. Well done to all.

Seven Harriers took on the London Marathon this year, including three attempting the distance for the first time (Mark Meyers, Peter Hardy and Jane Roberts) and four going at it for a second time (Lucy Jones, Cheryl Richards, Andy Simpson, and Keith Tewkesbury) Andy Simpson, running for MENCAP, was first home for the club in a personal best of 3h 46m 11s. Mark Mayers, running his first ever marathon and raising money for Air Ambulance and St Kentigerns Hospice, finished in 3h 53m 50s. Peter Hardy, still recovering from foot surgery, ran an excellent 4h 37m 01s. Lucy Jones and Cheryl Richards were the lucky recipients of this years club places. Lucy took almost 24 minutes off her previous time for the distance to finish in a personal best of 4h 48m 32s. Cheryl, raising funds for Love, Hope, Strength Foundation crossed the line in 4h 58m 39s. Jane Roberts, who only joined the Harriers a few months ago, raised funds for a Heart charity by running her first marathon in 5h 14m 20s. Keith Tewkesbury, running for Action for Children, completed the distance 5h 21m 14s.

Only four Abergele Harriers completed the 2011 London Marathon. Unfortunately injuries and family issues meant that a number of other members had to postpone their entries until next year. Injuries also meant that three of the four members had times slower that their normal but the highlight of the day for the club was Dave Edward's wonderful personal best time by almost nine and a half minutes, finishing in an excellent 3h 48mins. First Harrier home on the day, was Darren Blazier, who although injured for the last few weeks, still managed to finish in a respectable time of 3h 32mins 22secs. Carole Willgoose, also injured recently, finished very well in 3h 45mins 37sec while Alan Lucas, a veteran of many many marathons, following a difficult year for him still completed the course in 6h 29mins 48secs.

First Harrier home in London this year was Carol Willgoose who ran a magnificent time of 3hr 42mins 6secs, with almost perfect split times of 1:48:32 for the first 13.1 miles and 1:53:34 for the second. She also finished within the top 1,000 women overall and 53^rd overall in her age category. Second home, once again this year showing his experience over the distance, with just over four minutes between halves, was Alan Lucas, who finished in an excellent 3hrs 56mins 29secs for 29^th overall in the MV65 category. Dave Edwards also ran very well on the day, finishing in an excellent 4hrs 12mins 50secs, a little slower than last year but faster than 2007. Marathon debutant Cheryl Richards had arguably the race of the day, finishing in a tremendous time of 4hrs 52mins 33secs, demonstrating “experience” well beyond her years, running 2:23:54 for the first half and 2:28:39 for the second. Sue Calvert, who had one of the official Club places, and was again making her debut over the distance, just missed out on the five hour barrier, but was still extremely pleased with an excellent time of 5hrs and 23secs, for 409^th in the FV50 age category. The other club place went to the third debutant of the day Lucy Jones, who like the others ran outstandingly well to finish in a superb time of 5hrs 11mins 58secs, for 450^th in the same category. Rob Spotswood was the final Harrier home on the day, taking this one a bit easier than usual, but still finishing in a very creditable 5hrs 17mins.

At the AGM on Sunday 1st March the eligibility criteria for the Club's London Marathon numbers for the 2010 Marathon have been approved as follows;

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January of the year of the draw for the places (ie the year before the Marathon in question).

2) You must produce proof of entry to the Marathon in question. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot get the club place two years in a row unless there are less than two members who fulfil all the criteria.

The club's two guaranteed London places this year have gone to Dave Edwards and Simon Grant. Congratulations and good luck to both.

In view of some difficulties with the online entry this year the club will debate the required criteria for entering into the club draw at the AGM in 2009. If you have any thoughts on the matter come to the AGM, or if unable to do that please let one of the committee members know your opinion.

Five members were in action in the Flora London Marathon this year, all achieving tremendous times. The first of the two Official Club places had gone to Simon Grant who was running the distance for the first time. Grant had a fantastic run, finishing in a tremendous time of 3hrs 12mins and 36secs, a time good enough for 6^th M18 overall, an absolutely outstanding achievement in his first marathon. Carol Willgoose, running with the club’s second official number, ran a remarkable 3hrs 38mins 2secs, despite being injured for the last few weeks. Alan Lucas, a veteran of very many London Marathons, ran his usual extremely steady race, finishing in 3hrs 43mins 36secs, an almost identical time to two years ago, proving he is right back to form. Pete Smith, running London for the second time, took an astounding 25 minutes off his previous best for the distance; finishing in 3hrs 51mins 48secs well up in the top 25 per cent of finishers. Allison Guillemin also achieved a personal best time for the distance, by over four minutes, with a superb time of 4hrs 16mins 39secs, another wonderful time, especially considering the horrendous weather conditions on the day.

Members are reminded that applications for the 2009 Flora London Marathon will only be accepted on-line and only the first 120,000 entries will be entered into the ballot. Entries are now being accepted on www.london-marathon.co.uk

Of the Harriers who travelled to London this year, a number were tackling the distance for the first time. First Harrier home in his first ever marathon, was Keith Elliott in a fantastic time of 4 hours and 37 seconds, an outstanding debut time considering the temperatures on the day. Next home was seasoned campaigner Robert Spotswood, completing the course in 4hrs 7mins 22secs. Dave Edwards, running with one of the Club’s two guaranteed places, had an outstanding run, finishing in a wonderful 4hrs 14mins 21secs, not far ahead of another debutant Peter Smith, who ran an equally impressive 4hrs 16mins 17secs, again superb times given the conditions. Alison Guillemin, running with the club’s second guaranteed place, this year dressed as a schoolgirl, bur still managed an extremely respectful time of 4hrs 39mins 46secs.

The rules for applying for one of the Club's Guaranteed places will be as follows;

2) Have attended 15 Wednesday training sessions between January 2007 and December 2007.