It would be nice to know the slot allocation really, e.g. are there more slots for age groups, or is it just who was furthest under their own? And if you are 64 and 11 months it will be a fair bit more difficult that 60
My impression from the email is that there are a specific number of slots for each age group/gender. The fastest gets the first and so on. As you say age becomes a real issue at this point. We both now might need to wait until we are 65 to have any chance!
We would also like to do Tokyo but I believe that that is worse 
1 Like
I think Parkrun’s will be my limit at 65!
I’ve done NY and unlikely to go back, I saw something about the owners of the Verzano narrows bridge wanting to charge them nearly $1m to use it, not sure when from but that will bump up the cost. Can’t remember if it is a toll bridge and it’s to recoup missed income?
I think Tokyo is almost as tough as Berlin? I’m going to have a go at the ballot again, then hoping there’ll be a 5* ballot if I miss out but still not very optimistic of getting in and don’t want to pay an inflated fee for one of the tourist places.
2 Likes
The official reports say 24, but it felt way hotter than that. I came back from a week’s training camp in the Algarve on the Saturday (where I’d progressed some seriously strong tan game 
), went to watch the race on the Sunday, and it was unbearable!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh1V0HnlVT9/?igsh=MW83YTVmczV1ZGQyaQ==
I’d deferred my GFA spot which I claimed at the time was “the best decision ever”. Wasn’t thinking that when I came down with some of the worst lurgy I’ve had in the last 20 years the week of the 2019 race!
2 Likes
My club has a mob at Manchester going sub 3 this weekend, around six of them I think 
I drink with them in the pub every week but speed-by-association is failing me 
5 Likes
I’d already deferred from 2017 so couldn’t defer this time. But almost the opposite in that I’d been on holiday about a month before and did my last long run in a 28K race around Prater Park in Vienna, it was actually snowing a bit!
To go from a northern British winter to ~25c in a day or so was hard work 
2 Likes
Blimey, I know I was just bigging up my running clubs elite section for Manchester, but Ollie Knowles just won the Brighton Marathon for us.
5 Likes
2018 - I ran 2:49, non-super shoe, came circa 560
2019 - I ran 2:43, 4%'s, came 1050ish from memory.
Probably similar levels of fitness, I seem to handle the heat relatively well and was over taking truck loads in the last few miles in 2018.
2019 was definitely when 4% became way more available, I had been trying and failing for a long time before that to get some.
5 Likes
Sub 3 in Crocs!
8 Likes
That’s just awful
Not even in sport mode in that pic either!
1 Like
It’s a bit of a clickbait thumbnail with that clock time. If you didn’t watch the clip, he ran a 2.58 and change.
Annoyingly, it was also his first ever marathon!
3 Likes
I quite enjoyed the video - he did good.
1 Like
This isn’t a marathon clip but I’ve been watching this channel for a couple of weeks. Crazy stats from Japan!
2 Likes
I have it on good authority that at Kona many years ago, the med tent was divided into rows of beds each labelled with a letter: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J. The unofficial position was that G was for Germans, J for Japanese and A-F was for everyone else. That’s how popular the race was with people from those countries at that point.
2 Likes
I see Paula Radcliffe ran a 2:57 in Tokyo.
That’s jogging by her historic standards, but she probably isn’t doing that much running now
4 Likes
Going to Boston as well next month to finish her 6. Was actually surprised she hadn’t raced there.
2 Likes
Always too close to London. Has she done Berlin then? And she now needs to tick off Sydney.
5 Likes
I’m not sure if she has but unless the wording was misleading I’m guessing she has.
Yeah, London would have been her priority.
Also, I don’t think they’re extending the star system for a while and might be aiming for 9 
I suspect I’m out after Tokyo
2 Likes
You could probably end up doing Sydney on your way to or from Japan. That would be a pretty standard travel diversion for you 
6 Likes