Virgin London Marathon

Well Wednesday was a long old day with links being put on facebook for the Virgin London Marathon ballot results. Thing is they were never set in stone 110% true... but I followed the link anyway and low and behold it asked me to enter my card details to pay for my entry.

Was I in???  It couldn't be true... no I will wait for the famous Marathon news magazine to drop on my doormat to confirm it. From then on I couldn't concentrate, with 58 notifications on facebook in the next 3 hours from people saying the link is spam, the link doesn't work. Virgin themselves also released a post stating the link isn't working so shouldn't be relied upon as being confirmation you have made it through the ballot. Argghhhhhhh I'm coming off facebook until I know for sure....

Yesterday people were then posting pics on facebook of their "Sorry you didn't make it" magazines with a blue smurf on the front. Probably the most hated smurf in the whole world by now! and others  were posting their " You're In" magazines. I felt sick, shaky and lacking concentration at work. I went home on lunch but the postman hadn't been. So I went back home after work and there it was...

OMG!!!!!!!

 

I felt like Charlie with the golden ticket for the chocolate factory! I had done it! After the dissappointment of not getting through the ballot last year my second year in and I had made it! Only three nights before I was googling the Boston Marathon as a dream race I wanted to aim for but with a qualifying time for my age and sex of something daft like 3 hours 11 minutes I knew this was an unobtainable dream...for now. So my next thought fell to the London Marathon I never in a million years thought I would be lucky enough to be chosen in the ballot. Next thing to plan was getting there, hotels, who I would go with... could I really go to the big smoke on my own?

Last night my darling sister and Simon offered to go with me as Simon knows London like the back of his hand. So coming home from relatives at 9.30pm I started reading my You're In magazine. Straight away I knew I had to be quick with hotel bookings as many people book before getting their results. Every website I checked hotels were £360 onwards for 1 night! And the cheaper hotels had no rooms available. I decided to post in Run for Fun help on hotels as let's face it I don't really have a scooby doo what I'm doing and it was all happening so fast! The London Stratford Travellodge was mentioned and with it being 1 tube station change from the starting line this seemed ideal.

My grandad was looking down on me last night and I found a family room for 3 people for only £53! I dashed downstairs in only my pants ( I had been in bed sorting this out I don't just strut around the house in my underwear) to fire up the laptop and get this room booked.. God the laptop took an eternity to boot up but eventually I got there and after reading over and over again the details, dates & times to my sister I had booked my accomodation for the London Marathon 2014.

Only the small issue of winter training to do now. I have chosen to also raise money for charity whilst taking part in this event and have chosen the Birmingham Childrens Hospital to raise funds for as my friends baby is currently being cared for there after being born premature with a hole in her heart she has undergone surgery at only a few months old and is now in intensive care with complications. If anyone would like to donate to my sponsor page here is the link http://www.justgiving.com/sarah-morris30/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=sarah-morris30&utm_campaign=pfp-share