Each year the club gets allocated a number of its own guaranteed entries.

The number of such entries varies each year and come in two forms:

As a consequence of our assistance on baggage and drinks we are allocated “helpers” places.

As we are affiliated to England Athletics we are allocated a number of places based on our club’s membership size.

We ballot our club places on our Mince pies night in December

You do not have to be present at the mince pies night to enter the ballot for club places

To qualify for the club ballot you must meet the following Criteria:

1: You must have been a fully paid up first claim member of Bracknell Forest Runners for a minimum of 12 months as of 1st December of the current year

2: You must have entered the Public ballot for the year we have club places available and be able to produce an original rejection letter or email NO EXCEPTIONS

We will then split the ballot entries into two sections each of which then has additional qualifying criteria to the above

Section one will be for the places gifted to the club in return for our volunteer efforts for the previous years race.

To qualify for this section of the club ballot you must have been and officially accredited volunteer at either the elite drinks station at 40k or Finish line baggage trucks 10 and 11 for the previous years race if you are not successsful in section one of the balot you are automatically added to the Second section of the ballot

Section two will be for the places gifted to the club by UK Athletics because we are a UKA accredited club

To qualify for this section of the ballot you need to have supported the club personally over the past 12 months of your membership – examples of this include:

• Marshalling or volunteering at our club events in the previous 12 months – this includes Bracknell Half Marathon, The Forest Five, Club Handicaps and our Cross Country Race
• Regular run leading for official club runs on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday
• Committee members, Web Admin, Race results

For the avoidance of doubt, running in club kit in races does not qualify you for the London Marathon Ballot for club places.

Given the growth in our membership over the past couple of years alongside the changes to the process for the public ballot it is becoming increasingly more difficult for runners to get an entry to the London Marathon so with this in mind in order to try and give as many people as possible to run this iconic race the committee have decided that from 2019 race entries onwards there will also be disqualifying criteria for the  club places.

You will not be eligible for the club ballot for the following years London Marathon if:

• You ran the last London Marathon in any capacity (this includes good for age, charity and club places plus ballot entries)
• You have won a place in the club ballot in the previous three years

The reasoning behind introducing disqualifying criteria for the club ballot is that The London Marathon is the Holy Grail of races for runners all over the world and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to take part in the greatest race in the world.

If you have any questions regarding the club ballot please email secretary@bracknell-forest-runners.org.uk