London Marathon

Interested in running the London marathon for the Scleroderma Society? Read on!

The London marathon is a major athletic and fundraising event. Runners can enter the race either through the public ballot, or through a charity. Many people don't get a place through the ballot since it is extremely oversubscribed; there are around 35,000 places every year, and as many 125,000 runners applying to get a place. The marathon organisers sell a proportion of these places to charities, who then auction off their places to runners who were unsuccessful in the public ballot. The runners, in return, pledge to raise a certain amount of sponsorship money for their charity. Large charities have golden bonds, which entitle them to many places every year. Other smaller charities like us have a silver bond, which entitles us to one place every five years. The means we need to make the most of our place each time it comes round. Our next silver bond place will be in 2012.

The reason runners are able to raise large funds of money is that most people appreciate the significant achievement involved in running the 26.2 miles of a marathon. It's not just the effort required to complete the distance on the day, it's the months of preparation and training that go into it beforehand. On average, people will need to run 25-45 miles a week to train for a marathon, for at least four months beforehand.

The world class athletes will complete the race in little over two hours. The slower runners may take up to six or seven hours. The average is about five hours, which seems an insanely long time to be running! But it is all worth it for the awareness you will bring about scleroderma and the overwhelming sense of achievement you will feel crossing the finishing line. You will be on a high for weeks afterwards!

In preparation for this event, we will provide you with a running vest, training and nutrition ideas, moral support, coverage in our newsletter and fundraising advice. It is an exciting event, a wonderful challenge, and rewarding experience which will stay with you for a lifetime. Running a marathon and raising funds for charity is a very worthwhile personal challenge and we are immensely appreciative that you are considering doing this on our behalf.

It is advisable to consult your GP for a health check-up before commencing your training programme. We do advise all runners to get a medical check, but if you are a smoker, ex-smoker, are overweight or have a history of heart disease in your family, it's particularly important.

If you are interested in running for the Scleroderma Society, either via your own place in the public ballot, or you wish to apply for our silver bond place in the 2012 race, please contact the office via email, post or telephone.

2009 London Marathon – our runner's story

The Scleroderma Society supports people with scleroderma and their families by providing:

• educational literature
• a telephone helpline
• a comprehensive website
• newsletter with research information
• member contact
• informal group meetings
• an annual conference

We also work to promote awareness of scleroderma among the medical profession and general public in order to improve early diagnosis and prognosis. We are a founder member of FESCA (Federation of European Scleroderma Associations), working to forward the cause of people with scleroderma on a European level.