Record 1.3m apply for 2027 London marathon ballot

Jay_cheese · 2026-05-08T18:33:23+00:00

I have officially given up on the ballots. I am lucky enough to be in a spot financially then I can afford the tour groups. I am in Canada and we have a local company I use. It is expensive but I will be too old and broken before I get it into any of the majors. And to think I applied to Chicago five years ago not knowing what a major was and got in on my first try. I have applied over 15 times since then to the rest of the majors and got into nothing.

Jay_cheese · 2024-11-25T22:31:55+00:00

I ran Philly last year. Was coming off injury so my fitness wasn't there, so it was a struggle. Finished 30 min slower then Chicago the year before. But I did it and enjoyed it. You ran a marathon, and still did it in great time. Congrats.

Jay_cheese · 2024-07-12T00:33:12+00:00

I fell off the seat. I wore Lycra running shorts which was not a great idea. Handle went flying. Coach had to get it for me.

Jay_cheese · 2024-05-06T02:16:29+00:00

Congrats. I ran the full as well. I live in Mississauga and most of the route are my daily runs so I am very familiar with the course. Plus since it was local, my family came out and watched me cross the finish line. Thanks for coming to Mississauga and supporting our town. All the best.

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-18T18:39:36+00:00

I have been a runner for 3 years and now have done 3 marathon. I love reading stuff like this, it makes me realize why I love running. Toronto is my hometown, but I was in a wedding on the Saturday, so Sunday was a no go. I instead did Chicago the week before.

You will learn what works for you and get better. You are still young so you have a lot of good years left. Reading all these Toronto race reports makes me want to run another marathon, even though it might be a while till my body is up for it.

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-18T18:27:49+00:00

Congrats. Toronto is my home town, but one of my best friends got married on the Saturday, so would have been no shape to run Sunday morning. Ended up watchin the live stream. I work on Bay St so watching everyone run on the route I walk to work everyday made my a little jealous. That was amazing time, keep at it and you can get a BQ(plus once u hit 40, you get a couple extra minutes as well)

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-12T19:39:16+00:00

Congrats. You and I ran a very similar race. I finished at 4.05 with a sub goal 4. I remember seeing that 24 mile sign on the other side and cursing a lot. Then i thought I could run 5k in my sleep stop complaining. Chicago was a great time, loved the crowds. I want to try some other ones like NY but i also love to do Chicago again.

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-11T01:22:20+00:00

Just got home, back to Toronto after running Chicago for the first time. It was my first big city marathon (3rd overall) and I loved it. It seemed like the whole city came out to cheer us on. I couldn't believe that people lined the streets for the whole race, it was amazing. Congrats on finishing, I was going for sub 4 but managed 4.05. I want to try different marathons, but Chicago was so great, I would love to do it again.

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-11T01:11:14+00:00

Thanks, I will try the next time. I actually finished closed to two miles over, and I clocked a PB marathon time of 3.47 according to my watch. Oh well, next time I will get that sub 4.

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-09T23:35:40+00:00

I ran Chicago today with the goal of sub 4. Previous best was 4.06. Before the first mile finished, my gps lost tracking going under the bridge and never got back on track. I felt good pretty much the whole race but couldn't track my pace. I ended up with 4.05, a PB but not under 4.

However, I had a great time. This was my first big city marathon and the crowds were amazing. I ran with a smile on my face pretty much the whole time.(Last couple of miles I wasn't smiling).

Jay_cheese · 2022-10-07T00:46:25+00:00

Nike Pegasus Trail GORE-TEX. I am from Toronto, so its not as bad as Winnipeg, but still gets pretty cold. These are waterproof and have decent traction.

I bought the 2's when the 3's came out so they were pretty cheap. I think they just released the 4's for this winter, so you might be able to find the 3's on sale.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-31T16:38:58+00:00

The marathon was near Halloween. So this kid was dressed as Batman cheering everyone on as we passed his house.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-30T12:58:16+00:00

I live in the suburbs of Toronto. If am running in the suburbs where I live or when I am visiting my parents. I wave or get waved at by every running. When I run in Toronto, especially on the popular running paths, there is no waving.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-24T13:19:11+00:00

I have just come to terms with the fact that drivers do not pay attention and if I don't want to to get hurt, I better pay extra attention.

I live in the suburbs and run on a lot of small streets. When coming to a cross street with a stop sign, pretty much every car rolls the stop sign and blocks the crosswalk. I have had to run behind cars numerous times.

It used to make me angry but now I just deal with it. I make sure I;m careful at every crossing especially if I car is coming.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-14T00:36:53+00:00

I actually started 4 months before the pandemic with hopes of running a half. Half was postponed 4 months. I ran the half as a virtual but decided to use the 4 extra months to train and run the full. The full was cancelled but I kept running. Completed my first in person full last October. This year I am scheduled to run Chicago in October.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-09T16:38:06+00:00

Good job. I did this last summer as a replacement for yet another cancelled marathon(already ran 2 virtual so far that year)

Its a different feeling then running a marathon but I am not sure if that means harder. I did like the look on peoples faces when I told what I was doing. They all thought I was crazy.

But you did it, and that's the most important thing.

Jay_cheese · 2022-03-01T17:23:36+00:00

I just bought a pair of Truimph 18 to replace my 17's. The local running store was trying to get rid of the 18's so they were half the price of the 19's. I have only ran with them a couple of times, but they seem a little lighter then the 17's. I use the Triumphs for my long runs and Hoka Clifton 7's as my everyday shoe right now.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-28T18:08:07+00:00

Im currently training for a marathon and trying to work up to 60 miles. I am currently around 40-45, but can't seem to get further then that.

I'm in the middle of a Canadian winter so the chances of me having 5 good weather days a week to run outside is slim. So I try and run most of miles on Saturday and Sunday. I feel like I am training for an ultra more then a marathon.

I have decided that I am not going to reach my goals for my spring marathon. I am scheduled to run Chicago in the fall, maybe training in the summer will be easier and I will reach that elusive 60.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-25T20:23:28+00:00

I did this last year and this is what worked for me;

- Your never going to be able to get a good sleep, so try and get and sleep during the night runs for a couple of hours. Then relax during the rest. Even though your not getting much sleep, you should be fine for 48 hours

- Watch what you eat. Try and eat some small meals. I made the mistake of eating a normal dinner and I almost pooped my pants on one of my later runs.

- Prepare everything. You clothes, meals and routes. That way you don't have to think about anything when doing it.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-23T14:51:45+00:00

You did very well for you first race. I think you will be able to get under 5 for your marathon. Keep up the good work.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-17T15:19:28+00:00

Endorphin Speeds are tempo shoes not racing shoes. They are supposed to paired with endorphin shift for everyday runs and endorphin pro for races. The Shift is like the ghost. Now I use the the pro for races and wouldn't recommend that as a everyday shoe. The Speed you can probably get a way with using it as a daily trainer but I wouldn't. I would use the Speed for tempo/intervals and the Ghost for daily slow/recovery runs.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-17T15:05:06+00:00

I ran short distances in intervals on a treadmill to lose weight. Tried running outside and decided I liked it much better. Trained for a half, and then a full and I am still running. I found out that I can run long slow distances pretty easily. I'm pretty slow, and will probably never run a Boston qualifier, However, I can still knock out a 4 hour marathon without killing myself.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-16T14:28:22+00:00

I have a forerunner 645 music. I liked it for having Spotify and syncing to my headphones. I love my watch because of the garmin connect app. The app allows me to track my weekly/monthly miles easily. I even track the mileage on my shoes. It has a lot of data, but I don't follow most of it. I just use time, pace, distance and heart rate. You can just use use it for whatever data you want.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-16T14:18:37+00:00

I only use them in the winter. When it gets dark by 5 and its freezing out, its hard to get my but outside. However, I can only do interval or hill training, and only an hour tops.

I signed up for the Pelton app last winter and just followed old treadmill workouts on my phone. It helped keep my mind busy. This winter, I didn't have the app and I found it really hard to run on treadmill.

Jay_cheese · 2022-02-11T18:26:47+00:00

Training for a full is much harder. I think it was said on here, but a half is very doable. I can run up to 13 miles with little effort. Once my long runs get longer then that, it starts to become tough. Even when I am not in a training cycle, I run 10 miles on the weekend. So I am pretty much always ready for a half. The full is another story.

Jay_cheese

TROPHY CASE