Virgin Money London Marathon ballot for 2014 closes in record time

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

Source: Virgin Money London Marathon