London Marathon 2020 Update
Following the news that London Marathon 2020 has been cancelled, here is an update on what this means for those planning to run at this year’s event for Team WellChild.
We know for everyone who was hoping to run the marathon, in the event’s 40th year, after all your hard training, this will come as another blow. But we know for some this news will come with a sigh of relief, as there were so many feelings of uncertainty around the October event, and not knowing when to ramp up training for it.
Unfortunately the organisers are unable to hold the event in October as a mass participation event, and instead it will be elite-only runners. A full statement can be found here.
There is a new event date of 3rd October 2021 – this has been moved from April to October to allow maximum chance of the event taking place. There is also the opportunity to be part of The 40th Race by completing the 26.2-mile marathon distance on Sunday 4th October from home or wherever you are on a course of your choice.
We have tried to answer the main questions you may have below.
For those of you with ballot places, London Marathon will be in touch with you about deferring or refunding. You will be given the option to defer until 2021, 2022 or 2023 (or receive a refund). The deferral process will open on Tuesday 1 September and all ballot runners will be emailed with a link to the system. Ballot runners do not need to do anything now.
You have the option of deferring your WellChild running place to October 2021, April 2022 or April 2023.
Please let us know via this link which event you would like us to defer your place to. We will automatically transfer any fundraising you have done until this new date as well.
If you do not wish to defer your place and run the London Marathon in the next three years please contact us as soon as possible on [email protected].
We know so many of you have already reached and exceeded your target already – thank you! We will transfer your fundraising to date over to your chosen London Marathon.
WellChild is totally reliant on voluntary funding. With more than 60% of income lost through cancelled, or postponed fundraising events and activities, please do everything you can over the coming period to raise any extra you can for WellChild.
For more information on the cancellation please take a look at the FAQ’s released by the London Marathon organisers.
Running the virtual 40th London Marathon
There is also the opportunity to be part of The 40th Race by completing the 26.2-mile marathon distance on Sunday 4th October from home or wherever you are on a course of your choice.
You can sign up to run the virtual marathon for WellChild here.
The virtual Virgin Money London Marathon offers the opportunity to be part of The 40th Race by completing the 26.2-mile marathon distance on Sunday 4th October from home or wherever you are on a course of your choice.
Yes, it is – everyone who participates in the virtual Virgin Money London Marathon will be taking part in The 40th Race.
Everyone who completes the virtual Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 4th October and uploads proof of completion will be sent The 40th Race finisher medal and exclusive New Balance finisher T-shirt.
Entry to the virtual Virgin Money London Marathon is free for our existing WellChild runners. The entry system will open on Wednesday 12 August (please look out for an email from London Marathon on this day) exclusively for runners who had a place in The 40th Race or who had deferred their place to 25 April 2021.
Yes. By running the virtual Virgin Money London Marathon you will be part of The 40th Race and you will still be offered a deferred place in the 2021, 2022 or 2023 events.
Yes. All runners who had an entry for the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon on 4 October or had already deferred to the 2021 event will be able to defer their place to a future London Marathon, whether or not they run the virtual Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 4 October.
Yes. You can sign up to run the London Marathon for WellChild here: wellchild.org.uk/events/london-marathon-2020/
Thank you for all of your support of WellChild, which is enabling us to support children and families around the UK when they need it the most. To find out more about how we’re supporting families through the Covid-19 pandemic please visit: www.wellchild.org.uk/coronavirus/
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us on [email protected].
