Marathons
Ballot for Club Places for London Marathon – April 2025
Each UK Athletics-affiliated club is guaranteed a number of places dependent upon the number of club members. Stowmarket Striders have been allocated ONE place to the London Marathon for 2025. You must be at least 18 years old on the date of the event. To apply for a club place, the committee has agreed on the following criteria
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- The applicant must have been a fully paid up first claim club member for 18 months before the date of the London Marathon in question (i.e. since Oct 2023).
- The applicant must have run a minimum of 4 established races for the club in the year prior to the club ballot application.
- The applicant must have marshalled/volunteered at least 1 race on behalf of Stowmarket Striders in the year prior to the club ballot application.
- The applicant must have applied for a place in the public ballot and been unsuccessful.
- Any member who has secured a club place in the previous 5 years shall not be eligible to reapply.
- Successful member(s) will need to run as a club member and wear club kit.
Applications that satisfy all criteria will be drawn, to the number of club places available, to decide the member(s) who shall be awarded the club place(s). If there are multiple places, the first place will be drawn from those who have never run the London Marathon before.
Please note that the successful member will have to pay the London Marathon standard UK entry price of £69.99.
The application form is here.
London Marathon Runners & Supporters Coach
The club is no longer putting on a coach due to very low numbers of club members using it in recent years.
The London Marathon – How to enter
We know of 5 ways to enter the London Marathon:
- Through the Online Ballot via the Virgin London Marathon website
- Running for a charity
- As a championship runner (defined on the London Marathon website)
- A “good for your age” place (defined on the London Marathon website)
- Getting a club place through your running club.
The Online Ballot
The London Marathon online entry ballot system has closed and those runners that entered via the ballot have been told that they either have a place or have been rejected by receipt of the “Accepted” or “Rejected” magazine.
A Charity
Should you be unsuccessful in the ballot, or would like to raise money for your favourite cause, then consider running for a charity.
Each Charity has to pay approximately £250 for each place, so charity places are not handed out for free. You will be expected to raise a large sum of money, between £1,000 and £1,500, for your London Marathon place.
Championship Runner
The qualifying standards for a marathon are sub 2:45 for men or sub 3:15 for women. If you are a member of a UKA club and have a qualifying performance in the last two years you can apply for automatic entry to the London Marathon.
Good for age
There is also a sliding scale for those who are ‘Good for your Age’. Again, apply to London Marathon for a guaranteed place.
Club Places
Each UK Athletics-affiliated club is guaranteed a number of places dependant upon the number of club members amongst other criteria. The Stowmarket Striders usually have 1 or more guaranteed places to the London Marathon. You must be at least 18 years old on the date of the event. To apply for a club place, the membership has agreed on the following criteria.
- The applicant must have been a fully paid up first claim club member for 18 months before the date of the London Marathon in question.
- The applicant must have run a minimum of 4 established races for the club in the year prior to the club ballot application.
- The applicant must have marshalled at least 1 race on behalf of Stowmarket Striders in the year prior to the club ballot application.
- Any member who has secured a club place in the previous 5 years shall not be eligible to reapply.
- Successful members will need to run as a club member and wear club kit.
- Applications that satisfy all criteria will be drawn, to the number of club places available, to decide the members who shall be awarded the club places.