Press Release - London Marathon - 4/30/13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
     
    Virgin Money London Marathon Ballot for 2014 Closes in Record Time

               Ballot Closed After 11 Hours and 25 Minutes 
             Beating Previous Record in 2012 by Over 5 Hours

The Virgin Money London Marathon 2014 entry ballot has been completed after 
11 hours and twenty-five minutes, beating the previous record by over 5 
hours. In total, over 125,000 runners have been accepted into the ballot.

After unprecedented demand for places for the 2014 race, the online ballot 
entry was closed at 11.25am hours on Monday 29th April.

Race Director Hugh Brasher said: 'After the success of our race on Sunday 
21st April, we expected a high demand, but even we were surprised by such a 
fantastic reaction to the opening of the entry ballot.'

Brasher added: 'As we run a ballot and don't allocate spaces on a first 
come first served basis, all applicants will be on an equal footing. The 
ballot will be drawn in October, giving all successful applicants seven 
months to train for this fantastic challenge.

Paul Lloyd, Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Money said: 'The London 
Marathon is a very special part of the sporting calendar. And after such an 
inspirational and successful 2013 London Marathon I am not surprised that 
the ballot for places closed in record time. The event goes from strength 
to strength and we look forward to the first Virgin Money London Marathon 
in 2014 and helping runners in their attempts to raise even greater amounts 
of money for good causes.'

Despite the ballot for places closing in record time there are other ways 
to enter for 2014. People wishing to run for a charity dear to their heart 
may still be able to do so. Many major charities will have a set number of 
entry places in the Virgin Money London Marathon each year. They will 
allocate these places to runners on the basis that they will raise an 
agreed amount of money for the charity. For more information potential 
participants should visit www.virginlondonmarathon.com/raising-money

There are usually more runners interested in running for each charity than 
there are charity places available, so the charities will select their 
runners based on the runner's connection with the good cause and how much 
money they are realistically able to raise for the charity.

The 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon will take place on Sunday 13th April. 
For more information go to: www.virginlondonmarathon.com

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