Update-tabulous

Even hotter off the presses news!!!!

bob (thats me) is now 100% confirmed and definately running in the 2006 GNR.

I got an email from the good folks at GreatRun.org informing me that id successfully secured a place in the final entry ballot. That means i got a free place (well almost, i still have to pay an entry fee that covers insurance and bobbins) and so dont have the pressure of raising heaps of dough for charity.

However i will still be running for charity (is this making sense?).

I'll explain. The entry system is a bit complicated, i cant remember if its been explained here before.

The way it works is this. The event can only hold a certain number of competitors. Say around 50 thousand. The organising body (GreatRun.org) will give most of these entry places away to various charities. The charities will then invite people to run on their behalf in exchange for a pledged amount of cash. Since their are so many people wanting to run in the event the charities can pretty much set the amount of pledged cash that they demand from a runner in return for a guaranteed starting place.

The few remaining places that the organisers hold onto are given away to individual runners in a ballot system. Kind of like a lucky dip. You put your name in and hope that you will get a free place in the run. What i didnt realise until the other day was that there is more than one ballot. and i was successful in the 2nd and final ballot.

So ive got me a place.
But im still going to run for charity.

You see, the charidees provide you with much more than a guaranteed place.
They also give you support in the form of advice, a free running vest and a tent full of refreshments at the end of the race.

When i didnt hear anything after the 1st ballot i thought id been unsuccessful. So i applied with the British Heart Foundation (who i ran for last year). Their minimum pledge is £300. They offered me a place with them, but also stated that if i was to get a place through the ballot then i could still run under their umbrella. I will still get all the support but wont have to make a fundraising pledge. They will get another bloke running around with their shirt on and i will raise whatever i can for them but theres no pressure to meet a minimum target. (and they can sell off the charity place they were going to give to me to some other dude)


Best start training properly then.

chin- any chance of getting that "count down to the big day" thing on the blog again?