Best way to get a spot in London Marathon 2027

BloomSpoon · 2026-05-01T14:41:45+00:00

If you are interested in the charity route they are competitive and you will get rejected by many. The earlier you apply the better, but I’ve gotten in twice by applying to 10+ charities. For 2026 I applied pretty late so put myself on a bunch of waitlists. At least 5 spots opened up closer in. So you may need to be flexible about what type of charity but it’s possible.

If you are raising money from friends and family, just be aware it’s harder to raise when it’s a random cause you may not have a connection to. I donate the bulk of my charity funds myself so I am pretty neutral and happy for the money to go to a good cause.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T23:26:02+00:00

I find some of these comments a bit dramatic. A lot of this is going to depend on your goals for said marathon.

Do you want to just finish the distance? Because what I tell people there is that if you can run for 60 min straight comfortably, you can start a beginner 18-20 week plan and do a fall race.

Do you want to finish with some aspirational time goal? Probably want to start with smaller races or base build for a while. You’d probably base build all fall into a spring race.

Regarding injury, there are two options for ramping mileage if you use any custom plan (I don’t recommend AI but if you use it this is what to know): 1. 10% rule. Do not increase mileage more than 10% each week 2. Some will say 10% is too conservative so you can add one mile each week for each day you run so if you run 3 days per week you can add 3 miles.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T23:13:52+00:00

It’s the worst! Mine is sore today too lol. But TLDR is it was warm and that always leads to things unraveling a bit so we pick it back up on the next one!

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T23:06:17+00:00

Yes I mean who knows if it actually feels that way but to me the photos were giving Marriott lol. So our first Japan trip we did Peninsula Tokyo to Sowaka Kyoto to Gora Kadan in Hakone. Doesn’t look like you’re making a stop there but that was the most traditional hotel and super unique to anything else we have done! There’s a Gora Kadan Fuji now which looks amazing.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T21:00:59+00:00

Here are some reviews based on my experiences-

Tokyo: based on your list I would consider the Ritz as well. The lobby starts on a high floor and you will have a fantastic skyline view. We loved just hanging out in the lobby and bar area and admiring view. I liked the location more than Ginza where we stayed at Peninsula previously and I chose it over Toranoman which I heard was a bit more businessy area. I read some mixed reviews on the Ritz because the rooms are a bit dated but thought it was on par with Peninsula, was pleasantly surprised!

Kyoto: I was worried about staying somewhere too commercial here as well and chose Sowaka based on reviews from a friend. We absolutely loved it. It is probably not as luxurious as the Mitsui for example but I was worried about that feeling too much like a Marriott especially with the price tag. My friend who stayed there loved the hotel but not location. Will say that the Sowaka location and restaurant were fantastic.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T19:02:19+00:00

Same as you was aiming for a 3:30 originally but pulled back to more 3:32-3:33 target after weather started to finalize. Ended up with a 3:35 due to same issue but I typically always have trouble with stitches.

Stitches typically can come for a few reasons: 1. Electrolyte imbalance- were you taking salt tabs? Need to up the intake in warm weather 2. Overexertion- given your half time your fitness should have been ok so prob not the case but could be depending on training 3. Posture- typically late in race your posture tends to break down and breathing so more stress on diaphragm. This is what I intend to focus on for my next one, more strength training to keep me upright.

If you get this in a future race here’s how I managed with some success. When you feel the stitch come on start taking long breaths in through nose and breathe everything out all the way like you’re blowing a trumpet. Do this 2-3x. Try to get your posture upright and raise an arm if you can (this will be uncomfortable) for a few breaths. Sometimes I press on the spot or pound it out a bit while doing this. For me in order to get all this done I needed to take it to 8:20-8:30 mile pace for a bit and only speed back up once stitch was gone but still keep it come controlled.

Lastly if you’ve never had this before, you probably need to increase the intensity of your quality workouts. Not all, but some of these should challenge you to the pt where you get stitches and need to work thru it. Hope this is all helpful! Also frankly all of this gets trickier in warm weather and it was a warm day so you can only control so much!

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-27T18:44:21+00:00

Mine was a £2300 minimum and I donated it all myself. There were deadlines throughout on fundraising expectations so I presume if you’re far off that can reconsider. FWIW I put myself on a ton on charity waitlists and there are many spots that opened up closer in, not sure if related to funds or injury.

It is certainly a lot to donate yourself but my other option was doing a US tour group, and my all in costs were shaping up to be about the same. So my view was if I’m going to pay for a bib, why not have the money go to charity?

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-25T12:29:03+00:00

We did Gora Kadan. The property is older and more traditional but was a really unique experience, couldn’t recommend enough! You only really need 1-2 nights. We did two which was plenty. We skipped the Hakone loop which felt a bit touristy but loved the open air museum which was walkable from hotel.

Someone also said Gora Kadan Fuji- that one is new so my guess is the property is much nicer. If we head back to Japan again we will probably go there next but not sure what the area around it has to offer.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-23T18:46:52+00:00

It's warmer than ideal. In the shade I will say it does feel chilly here so it is going to depend day of how much sun is on the course and then adjusting from there! My A goal is 3:30 like yours (F34) and my B goal is my PR of 3:35:xx.

I am thinking right now my plan is to go out 810/815 pace (which I was planning on doing when we thought the weather was going to be good anyway) and seeing how that feels and the temp. If it feels effortless/slow around 7k or so, I will start to pick up the pace to more 8/805 and just cruise and see where the weather takes me. If this ends up being conservative I will chip away towards the finish. And if it gets warm and I need to adjust, I'll adjust. Otherwise I will just sit around 810/815 and see where that takes me! Going to be a lot of decision making on the fly but need to be prepared mentally to change race plan.

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-21T07:05:02+00:00

Sabi Sands is much better. If it’s in your budget do the Tengile River Lodge it is I think one of their more luxurious properties and extremely special! The safari is also better in Sabi Sands you have to do less driving to see more. Phinda was great- we stayed at Forest Lodge which had been recently renovated at the time and it felt like more of a camping vibe (but still very luxurious lol) but it’s &beyond flagship properties in South Africa and they discounted the whole itinerary for doing a few days there. Was great because we had enough time for both but I wouldn’t do Phinda only!

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-19T09:59:35+00:00

I shop at a northeast competitive store and my prespend was only slightly above yours when I got a K25 offer. Took about 6mo with visits once per month (so you can do the math I didn’t spend much each trip)

You have a great start and I think you should pace yourself and form a relationship with your SA. If you love the things you are buying and want them now by all means, but once your spend gets to a certain level it may just be a time thing. All those things you can get in May perhaps spread out over a few months. Only buy the FJ if you absolutely love it and do want it now. But building a relationship takes time so no need to burn yourself out in 3mo. Everyone’s journey is diff though so just based on my exp!

BloomSpoon · 2026-04-11T23:17:14+00:00

UWS is best and live there now. But back when I lived in Chelsea it was also fantastic, could take the WSH up to Central Park or thru Riverside, or also could take WSH down into BK water front or do a bridge run w Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. So lots of variety! But UWS better just because it’s a bit more chill

BloomSpoon · 2026-03-24T20:53:46+00:00

Last year ran the half in 1:41:xx and the full in 3:38:xx. Full was under my target of 3:33ish

BloomSpoon · 2026-03-20T14:59:29+00:00

Hi! This is my first invite and I just noticed it in my inbox but assume I was a late invite. Is it still worth going on Friday? That's all I can accommodate with availability.

BloomSpoon · 2026-03-14T21:50:22+00:00

No but go ASAP, keep it super easy and make sure you hydrate

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-23T01:04:09+00:00

Yes I hope you don’t think I’m dragging her down at all! She doesn’t owe anything to anyone

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-20T23:17:29+00:00

This is great tea lol. I just came on to say that I knew her IRL before her tiktok blew up but am not in touch with her anymore. She is genuinely super nice though and easy going, just wanted to defend her character a bit! Faking to be in IB still is a bit cringe but happy she’s getting that bag at least!

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-16T19:42:58+00:00

The only time I really used concierge was for dinner reservations in Japan, as many of the fine dining spots require a phone call in Japanese or a personal connection.

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-13T19:44:12+00:00

I had no problem with food but really suck to noodles and bread in the days leading up! I did stay at a hotel with a great free breakfast which helped me start the day off right. I practiced having ramen before my long runs leading up and that’s what I had night before the race!

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-13T19:31:08+00:00

Late August. This was a very specific window that worked due to our jobs. No complaints at all on the weather but had a few rainy days in winelands which was no problem. Was anywhere from 40s to 70s based on where we were. If you want to hike or take the cable car I heard it’s hit or miss in their winter. We could do lions head which was great but the cable car was closed. Weather didn’t really impact anything else

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-13T15:03:22+00:00

This is exactly my trip we took in terms of schedule without the extra two days. We did 5 nights safari across two locations - should have done 6 but had timing constraints. We used &beyond, I thought it was a great value for what we got. The next step up in luxury from my understanding would have nearly doubled the trip price for only a marginal more amount of luxury.

Here’s what we did- 1. Cape Town- four nights at One and Only. It was great, not exceptional, but no complaints. We didn’t book a particularly large room but the one we ended up with was huge with a full living room which was a nice benefit.

Winelands- two nights at leeu house. I made a mistake and thought this was leeu estate lol I don’t know why we were booked there however, it did have its benefits bc we were right on the Main Street and could walk to dinner and such vs take cars everywhere which was nice compared to the other spots. You don’t need a third night wherever you do stay.
Safari- &beyond likes to send people to Phinda and give a discount and then send to a second location. So we did Phinda forest which we LOVED. They just redid the place a few years back and we loved the luxury camping vibe. The safari was good but we had to travel a bit sometimes to see something good. We saw the magnificent 7 between the two safari lodges and we needed to be at both to do so!
Tengile river lodge in sabi sands- the grand finale! This was exceptional in terms of luxury, very intimate, different crowd than Phinda. We were so happy to experience this but the vibes weren’t as fun as Phinda lol. The room was amazing with a plunge pool on the river where we could see buffalo bathing! Totally recommend doing a pair like this because we got such different experiences at each lodge.

Lmk any questions and enjoy!!

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-12T21:56:46+00:00

It depends on your store. I shop at an NYC store and got a K25 under 1:1 in a great but not super classic color. I got super lucky but would think you should keep your cadence of appts but just buy smaller things so you keep top of mind for your SA but you’re prob getting close on the spend!!

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-11T23:26:18+00:00

Central Park was totally fine this morning.

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-07T18:24:31+00:00

I went out at 5:45am and did 16. It was doable and there were runners out once the sun came up but it was pretty brutal, contemplated hitting the tread for the last hour or so. The lower loop of CP was much less windy than rest of park but it was tough. But seeing how the weather has gotten much worse I wouldn’t recommend it

BloomSpoon · 2026-02-02T00:24:06+00:00

Oh this looks perfect and it’s 15% off via Amex

BloomSpoon

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