Friday 30th April 2010

GORDON Brown commented that a future Labour Government would continue to invest in sport in the United Kingdom on a visit to Loughborough University to launch Labour’s sports manifesto today.

Labour candidate for the constituency Andy Reed welcomed investment in Loughborough in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The manifesto sets out guarantees of 5 hours a week of competitive sport for all under-19s in full time educat ion as well as the creation of a national network of 3,000 Olympic after-school Sports Clubs for teenagers by 2011. Other measures in the manifesto include 10,000 new Volunteer Coaches by 2012 and more free swimming sessions for children and the over-60s.

Giving advice to athletes at Loughborough Mr Brown said: "You have got to have the inner reservoir of resilience to fight back whenever anything happens to you."

He added: "You have got to try harder, work longer, and dig deeper.
"That is what I have got to do over the next few days, anyway."

While speaking to sports students Mr Brown quoted the British Olympic athlete Eric Liddell of 'Chariots of Fire' fame: "The first half of the race involves outer strength, and the second half of the race involves inner strength."

The Labour contingent were welcomed to the University by Vice Chancellor Professor Shirley Pearce. While on campus they also met Chris Earle (Director of Sport), Professor Myra Nimmo (Head of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences), Professor Mike Caine (Director of the Sports Technology Institute), and representatives from the Students’ Union Executive, including President Rob Hulme.

During their visit to the University, Mr Brown and his colleagues visited the Gymnastics Research Centre to see a number of potential members of the Olympic squad during one of their training sessions.

He then went to the High Performance Athletics Centre (HiPAC), where he launched the Manifesto and answered questions from the gathered audience of University students, staff and elite athletes including British sprinters Martyn Rooney and Lloyd Gumbs and British female boxer Amanda Coulson.

Saturday 1st May 2010

EUROPEAN Athletics has awarded the 2014 European Athletics Championships to the Swiss city of Zurich.

The European Athletics Council made the unanimous decision after the Swiss athletics federation and city of Zurich presented their candidacy to host the 22nd edition of the event.

Zurich will be the second Swiss city to hold European Athletics' flagship event after country capital Bern hosted the fifth edition of the championships in 1954.

European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz, who is Swiss, said, "We are very pleased to confirm that Zurich will be the hosts of the European Athletics Championships in 2014.

"Athletics is a hugely popular sport in Switzerland and we have been assured today that we can look forward to a fantastic event."

Patrick K. Magyar, CEO of the newly incorporated "Leichtathletik EM 2014 AG" that will oversee the championships and Weltklasse Zürich Meeting Director, said, "Together with Athletissima Lausanne, we will be able to benefit from a thorough know-how in the realisation of international meetings.

Weltklasse Zürich and Athletissima Lausanne are two stops on the IAAF Diamond League circuit.

Thursday 29th April 2010

ANDREW Lemoncello has withdrawn from the Great Britain team for the Barcelona European Championships to be replaced by fellow Scot Martin Williams.

Lemoncello, having made his debut over the distance when finishing eighth at last weekend’s Virgin London Marathon in a time of 2:13.40 has decided to target a big city race in the autumn with Amsterdam his likely target which is organised by his sponsors Mizuno.

Tuesday 27th April 2010

EUROPEAN indoor 1500 metres champion Anna Alminova has been banned for three months for failing a drugs test, the IAAF have confirmed.

The 25-year-old Russian tested positive for the banned substance pseudoephedrine at last month’s world indoor championships in Doha, where she finished seventh in the 1500m final.

Viktor Berezov, a member of the anti-doping commission of the Russian athletics federation, said Alminova was given a lighter sentence because she had treated herself with an over- the-counter cold medicine containing the substance.

“We just received confirmation from the IAAF that they had approved Alminova’s sanction,” Berezov told local media.

Seven other top Russian female athletes, including twice world 1,500 metres champion Tatyana Tomashova and world indoor 1,500 metres champion Yelena Soboleva, were handed two-year doping bans for manipulating their drug samples in 2008.

Alminova, whose suspension ends on July 8th, said she plans to compete at the European championships in Barcelona.

Tuesday 27th April 2010

INSPIRED by the amazing scenes in the capital on Sunday, fancy entering one of the world’s top marathons, then read on…

The public ballot system for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon will open to all other applicants on Tuesday May 4th 2010.

The ballot system will close when 125,000 applications have been received. The overseas ballot system will also open on Tuesday May 4th 2010.

For many years the London Marathon’s Public Ballot System has included an opportunity to claim a guaranteed place to those runners who have entered the ballot on five consecutive occasions and been rejected each time.

Due to a significant increase in applications since the ballot entry system went online (125,000 in 2010), they are unable to continue to offer this opportunity in future years and will phase out the offer of a guaranteed place over the next five years.

However, all runners who entered the ballot in 2009 and 2010, and were rejected both times, will be given an opportunity to pre-enter the ballot for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon via an email link that will be sent to them in the week commencing April 19th 2010. The opportunity to pre-enter will remain open until April 30th.

These runners will continue to be offered a guaranteed entry if they are rejected from the ballot on five consecutive occasions. Once they are successful in gaining a place this benefit will cease.

If you have received an email about priority registration please follow the links and use the username and password provided to access the ballot entry system and complete your application now.

Access to the ballot entry system between 19-30th April 2010 is restricted to those people in receipt of a priority registration invitation. If you have not received an invitation you can still enter via the public ballot system.

www.virginlondonmarathon.com

Friday 23rd April 2010

NIKE is donating the net proceeds from the sale of (NIKE)RED laces to help deliver life-saving assistance throughout Africa where 22 million people suffer from HIV/AIDS. Just by buying a pair of shoelaces, you can save someone’s life.



Marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe chose to be the face of the (NIKE)RED campaign for Nike Running.

Interviewed her about her reasons for supporting (RED). Here’s what Paula had to say.


Q: What motivated you to get involved with (NIKE)RED?


With more than 3,800 dying every day in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS is more than an epidemic. It is a global pandemic. As a citizen of this world, I cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering that is caused by this preventable, treatable disease. I wanted to help out in whatever way possible.

Q: How does (NIKE)RED help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa?


Half the proceeds from (NIKE)RED laces support community sports-based programs that help youth make better decisions regarding HIV/AIDS. The other half of the proceeds go to the Global Fund to help people affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Global Fund provides access to education, nutrition, counseling, medical services, and the two pills a day people with HIV/AIDS need to stay alive. Programs supported by the Global Fund have already prevented more than 4.9 million deaths.


Q: How can groups like (NIKE)RED help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Africa?


A company like Nike has the wherewithal to bring this crisis to a global audience. Through (NIKE)Red and other (RED) branded products, we all have the ability to positively impact the lives of men, women and children in Africa.


Q: What can a runner do to support (NIKE)RED?


When you buy (RED), you save lives. That’s why I urge all runners to purchase and wear (NIKE)RED laces. Runners can also help spread awareness by pledging their miles to (RED) in the Race for (RED) Nike+ challenge.



There is a crisis but there is also a solution. If we all lace up, we can save lives.



To purchase the (NIKE)RED laces click on the following link: http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?country=GB&lang_locale=en_GB&cp=EUNS_AFF_GB#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-300/pid-307289/pgid-308175

Thursday 22nd April 2010

IT'S been a challenge, admitted race director Dave Bedford today, but despite six days of grounded flights and a cloud of volcanic ash throwing a shadow over the event, the 2010 Virgin London Marathon on Sunday will feature the highest quality elite fields in its 30-year history.

"We've had a bit of a challenging week," said Bedford as he explained the efforts that have been made to get world and Olympic champions, reigning title holders and record setters from all over the world to the British capital.

"Early in the week we thought we'd get some of our athletes in but certainly not all. It was only when the skies re-opened that we saw we could get them all here," said Bedford, who at one stage faced the prospect of staging a London Marathon missing some of top stars.

"I believe now we will have the best fields ever in the most challenging circumstances we have ever faced," he added. "As long as there are no negative effects on the athletes from all their travelling I expect to see some incredible performances on Sunday."

At a cost of nearly £150,000, taken from the event's contingency fund, the London Marathon chartered three private planes and called on "incredible support" from transport companies, Spanish race directors, athletes' agents and the British government to get its elite runners into London via Madrid from Africa, South America and eastern Europe.

Many of the top African and European marathons runners in the world will arrive at London's City airport from Spain at 17.30 this afternoon while others have eventually been able to make delayed journeys from USA, Japan and China in time for Sunday's race.

"I don't think we've ever hired a jet before," said Bedford. "But in the end I think it was pretty good value for money. You can't put on an event without a contingency fund and the amount we spent is well within that. For us, it's about maintaining the quality of the event rather than bean counting.

"What was amazing is that whenever we asked for support people helped us where they could because they have such great affection for the event. It's easy to forget the challenges we've faced in previous years but it's safe to say early in the week we felt pretty challenged. Now I feel proud that we've been able to deliver such great elite fields once again."

Tuesday 20th April 2010

GREAT Britain’s Mara Yamauchi is one of a band of over 40 elite athletes that are facing a very tough battle just to make the start line for this Sunday’s Virgin London Marathon due to the ongoing travel disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic cloud that hangs over Europe.

Defending champions Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya and Germany's Irina Mikitenko are also struggling to reach the capital.

Yamauchi is finding it difficult to get a flight to London as the GB runner is based in Japan and had planned to travel to the UK this week.

The race organisers have confirmed that the race will go ahead as planned and are looking at alternative methods of ensuring athletes can reach the UK.

Wanjiru looked odds on favourite to retain his title after nearest rival and fellow countryman Martin Lel was forced to pull out of the race with a leg injury, whilst Mikitenko is chasing a hat-trick of victories.

The Boston Marathon that took place on Monday and the Vienna Marathon which was staged over the weekend resulted in many British club runners unable to fly to those destinations, however, the inaugural Brighton Marathon offered over 50 complimentary places to any athlete that was unable to travel.

London Marathon officials have also been concerned about air pollution levels in the capital and are relying on the Environmental Agency to monitor the air quality in the run-up to the race.

The pre-race press conferences have also been rescheduled for Thursday due to continuing travel challenges facing elite athletes.

For all the latest news on the race visit the official web-site: www.virginlondonmarathon.com/

Wednesday 14th April 2010

THREE-time champion Martin Lel has been forced to withdraw from this month's Virgin London Marathon for the second successive year.

The Kenyan star, who pulled out on the eve of last year's race with a hip problem, has again seen his ambitions to achieve a record fourth win wrecked by an injury to his right leg.

Race director Dave Bedford said: "It is very disappointing to lose Martin for the second year in a row.

"He is one of the greatest marathon runners in the world and one of London's great champions. We look forward to welcoming him back next year."

Lel may be an absentee but the London event, which takes place on on April 25th, has again attracted a star-studded field with Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru defending the title he won 12 months ago.

Tuesday 13th April 2010

CHANNEL Five’s hugely popular ‘The Gadget Show’ in next weeks episode (19th April) will feature presenters Jason Bradbury and Suzi Perry compete over the London Marathon course using a range of technology to travel the 26.2 mile route.

The pair have a range of athletic and transportation gadgets at their disposal, but will it be enough to turn the techies into stars of track and field?

The Gadget Show is on Five at 8.00pm on Monday 19th April.

Tuesday 13th April 2010

GREAT Britain's Jessica Ennis has been named female European Athlete of the Month for March.

The 24-year-old Sheffield athlete reaffirmed her supremacy in multi-events adding a Pentahlon gold to her Heptathlon world title in Berlin last year racking up a total of 4937 points to claim top prize in the women's Pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships.

Making her championship debut, she clocked 8.04sec in the 60m hurdles, jumped a best of 1.90m in the High Jump, threw for 14.01m in the Shot Put, jumped a best of 6.44m in the Long Jump, and ran 2:12.55 in the 800m - breaking the championship record held by Sweden's Carolina Kluft by three points.

In a closely contested poll, Ennis edged Slovenian Javelin thrower Martina Ratej and Portuguese long jumper Naide Gomes, who finished second and third respectively.

French Triple Jump star Teddy Tamgho won the men's award following his superb performance at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, last month when he set a new world indoor record 17.90m on his final attempt to take the Triple Jump gold.

The 20-year-old, who had been lying in second place before his final jump, leapt past the long-standing previous mark of 17.83m shared by Aliecer Urrutia of Cuba and Swedish star Christian Olsson.

The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe.

European Athletics names a male and female winner each month and features the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each counting for 33.3% of the final vote.

Tuesday 13th April 2010

CANCER Research UK’s Race for Life is the largest women-only fundraising event in the UK.

Since 1994, women of all ages and fitness levels across the UK have come together at these inspiring events to walk, jog or run 5k to help beat cancer.

Some take part in celebration of surviving a cancer experience. Others take part in memory of a loved one or to give hope to a cancer-free future. But all of them share a common goal: to raise money for Cancer Research UK’s groundbreaking work to beat cancer.

Every pound raised in sponsorship or fundraising helps to fund the work of over 4,500 researchers, doctors and nurses dedicated to helping more people beat cancer.

So far, an incredible 4.7 million women have raised over £370 million to fund Cancer Research UK's life-saving work.
When are Race for Life events?

There are over 230 Race for Life events taking place around the country between May and July and are open to women across the UK. There is no prize for first place – you can walk, jog or run the 5k course. Almost half of Race for Life participants chose to walk at their event.
Enter Race for Life

This year, we hope 700,000 women will come together to raise over £60 million to help beat cancer.
Leicestershire Races:
Loughborough University - Sunday 13th June 2010 - 10:30am 5km
Loughborough University - Sunday 13th June 2010 - 14:30pm 5km
Leicester - Saturday 10th July 2010 - 10:30am 10km
Leicester - Sunday 11th July 2010 - 10:30am 5km
Leicester - Sunday 11th July 2010 - 14:30pm 5km

Enter online at: www.raceforlife.org/choose-your-event.aspx

Wednesday 14th April 2010

ENGLAND Athletics have announced the dates of the 2010 Midlands Coaching and Leader Courses.

The courses available in Leicestershire are listed below. Please ensure application forms are fully completed and returned with photograph and payment (payable to England Athletics) at least 2 weeks prior to the course start date.

Please return the application form and cheque to England Athletics, Education and Customer Services, Wellington House, Starley Way, Birmingham International Park, Solihull, B37 7HB.
LEADER AWARD - £130 per person ( £95 EA subsidised cost )
13th June
Aylestone Leisure Centre, Leicester
E Mids
MC0174
COACHING ASSISTANT - £175 per person ( £130 EA subsidised cost )
5th/6th June
Loughborough University
E Mids
MC0180
LEADERSHIP IN RUNNING FITNESS - £90 per person
5th June
Saffron Lane, Leicester
E Mids
MC0161

For further course information visit: www.englandathletics.org

Monday 12th April 2010

USAIN Bolt will make his first appearance on the IAAF Diamond League circuit when he competes in Shanghai on May 23rd.

The Olympic and world champion will race over 100 metres on a track which is already acknowledged as one of the fastest in the world.

Bolt's arch-rival Tyson Gay of the United States clocked 9.69 seconds at the Chinese venue last September.

Now fans will be hoping the Jamaican superstar can challenge his world record of 9.58sec which he set last summer in Berlin.

The meeting will also see China's Liu Xiang, the 2004 Olympic and 2007 World 110m hurdles gold medallist, make his first outdoor appearance of 2010.

Monday 12th April 2010

THE Virgin London Marathon organisers have issued a response to the allegations made by Channel 4 in the recent 'Dispatches' programme surrounding how much money it generates, how much it costs to stage, and how it is used by charities to fundraise.

Why does 25p in the £ earned by The London Marathon Limited go to charity?

In fact it is 100% of the profit that goes to charity. The London Marathon Limited which puts on the London Marathon and other events is not and never has been a charity. It is a trading company like any other trading company. The only difference is that it is owned by The London Marathon Charitable Trust Limited and all of the profits go to the Charitable Trust.

Virtually every major charity in Britain has a separate trading company. Just like with them the whole of the profit of our trading company goes to charity but only after the costs of putting on the event which include costs such as the expense of toilets, barriers, venue hire, staff, rent and all of the other costs of every year staging 5 world class events, and putting on Britain’s largest consumer fitness show.

Trading subsidiaries of charities do not hand over 100% of their turnover - just their profits. An equivalent sized trading subsidiary of a charity as an example is Oxfam Activities Limited which last year had a turnover of £17.9m and made a £1.8m profit. The London Marathon Limited made a profit of £4.45m on a £17.8m turnover.

In fact, the London Marathon is the most profitable mass race in the Europe and probably the world and, thanks to the foresight of the race founders, all of this profit goes to charity.

The London Marathon Limited stages what is widely recognised as the world’s greatest marathon and this is what attracts people to take part and hence they raise over £47 million per annum for charities.

The London Marathon Limited has 25 full time staff and over 640 paid temporary staff by the time of race day. Its salaries are based on what the market rates are for other major sporting events and the glib comparison made by the programme with charities salaries is unfair and completely irrelevant. The London Marathon Charitable Trust has no employees at all. The amount of pay that the top paid employee received included a one-off bonus for finding and securing a new sponsor without using a sponsorship agency which saved the Marathon (and hence the Charitable Trust) over £3 million over the life of the sponsorship.

We would also point out that in the months that we have been asking the programme makers to detail their allegations they have never put to us any complaint about the amount of salaries nor the level of costs of the Event. Had they done so, or taken up any of our repeated offers to meet or even returned our telephone calls they would have had full explanations and then not made the fundamental errors that they have.

As it is, we wrote in great detail to the programme makers answering fully the few points they did put to us but the programme has largely ignored everything that we said.

The way in which the programme has been promoted in regard to this issue is in our lawyers’ view clearly defamatory and untrue and they have already written to the programme’s PR company threatening to sue for libel.
What about the money that the runners raise for their own charities?

The money that runners raise for the charities that they choose to run for goes directly from the runner to those charities which get 100% of the money raised by them. Between them last year the runners raised £47.2m and all of that money went directly to the charities without any of it coming to the London Marathon.
Why does the London Marathon not reveal more information about its costs and grants?

It is complete and utter nonsense to say that our accounts lack “transparency”. Channel 4 has seen the letter from our auditors who have confirmed to that our accounts fully comply with all regulatory standards and requirements. The last filed accounts for the Charitable Trust ran to 30 pages and in addition the last filed accounts of The London Marathon Limited ran to a further 16 pages.

The London Marathon accounts drawn up for directors have a complete line by line breakdown of all of the expenses incurred in staging the world’s greatest marathon and all of our other events and these are seen by Directors who include representatives of the City of Westminster, City of London, London Councils, Mayor of London and UK Athletics. In addition our directors include very experienced independent appointees. Our accounts are subject to a level of scrutiny that no other running event in this country has to go through. Indeed it is difficult to think of any sports event in the United Kingdom that has so much externally appointed scrutiny of their accounts. What is particularly striking is that so many of our directors are nominated by democratically accountable organisations.

On the programme, Kate Sayers said we have to be accountable to our “stakeholders” and, as set out above, that is exactly what we are.

The amount that we spend on individual elements of the costs of staging the event is highly confidential and commercially sensitive. For instance, we have detailed negotiations as you would expect with all of our suppliers. If we were to reveal the amount that we pay to them it would damage our ability to get the best deals by having competitors compete for our business. In many cases we are also bound by contractual confidentiality provisions.

We also note that Channel 4 when asked under a Freedom of Information request refused to give any information about the how much they have made from the sale of advertising to charities.

In refusing to give the information Channel 4 said “we…consider that the information requested is highly commercially sensitive” and that “it could severely prejudice Channel 4’s ability to secure the sale of advertising airtime to such advertisers at competitive rates in the future”.

We are also concerned to note that the company making this Dispatches programme has what appears to be a conflict of interest. It is part of Ten Alps plc and a division of that company, Ten Alps Creative, is a direct competitor of realbuzz.com (our Online Partner) in the provision of website services. As its own website reveals, its services include Website Design, Website hosting and Website Build Architecture and Content Management all of which are services that Realbuzz.com provide to the London Marathon. One of the questions asked by the company was how much Realbuzz charged us for these services. Ten Alps also has a thriving business selling advertising for charities – just like Realbuzz.

Channel 4 also ignored all of the work we do to publicize the grants that we make. For instance, every local paper gets details of all of the grants made in their areas and we put out a press release giving details of every grant that is made or has ever been made. How can that be said lack transparency?
Is it right that the London Marathon sells advertising packages including entries?

The London Marathon publishes a range of different magazines and also sells advertising on its web pages. Our customers have a number of different options of how to spend their advertising budget and we are operate in a highly competitive market against titles like Runners World, Running Fitness and of course internet advertising channels like Google.

Many charities have told Channel 4 that our packages represent good value and of course if some charities do not agree then they have many other options of where to advertise.

As an example, Nick Barrett, Chief Executive of The Outward Bound Trust told the programme makers, “The Outward Bound Trust has a number of choices of where to advertise and chooses the London Marathon packages because in our experience they are effective and offer good value”.

Very few entries are used to support our advertising sales and, as Channel 4 have been told by many charities, the reason that charities buy advertising packages is not normally based on getting access to entries but in order to attract runners, either with their own places or without, to run for that charity. There are a range of packages available many of which do not have any places attached to them.

Of course Channel 4 did not tell the viewers that this is what charities were saying since they did not allow anyone on to the programme who had anything positive to say.

We gave them examples of how our magazine advertising packages in fact compared favourably with other rival publications.
Could the London Marathon not reveal which charities have how many entries?

Each year over 600 charities have entries in the London Marathon directly from us. In addition hundreds of other charities benefit from having runners with their own places run for that charity. We do not know who the tens of thousands of runners with their own places are running for as that is solely between the runner and their choice of charity.

We do of course know who we issue places to and we cannot tell people how many entries they each get without their permission. It is interesting to note that of the 172 charities with golden and silver bond entries contacted by the Programme only 12 were prepared to say how many places they had. We cannot be criticized for not revealing what the charities themselves do not want disclosed.
Is the London Marathon Charitable Trust slow in giving out grants?

This is a ridiculous suggestion. We have a very good record of paying out very quickly after grant conditions have been met. The London Marathon Charitable Trust prides itself on the speed in which it makes grant awards. Last year for instance, the Trustees made their awards less than 3 weeks after the money became available to them. Sometimes we have to act even more quickly to save playing fields that are under threat.

After grant awards are made, we usually then pay out within a maximum of 6 weeks after grant conditions are met and often much sooner.

Obviously we have to wait to pay out until grant conditions are met and this sometime takes time as recipients need to commission the work and sometimes get planning permission.

Our trustees over the years have included some of Britain’s most experienced grant makers and we currently have the Chair of Sport England and the former Chair of Sport England as trustees. Our standards and approach to grant making is fully in line with best practice.

The London Marathon Charitable Trust also must have the lowest running cost of any charity in Britain. 100% of its receipts are used for charitable purposes and it (as opposed to the trading subsidiary) has no costs or expenses.

As to the suggestion that it is unusual for charities to give grants to Council, that is completely untrue. Many of the projects that we have contributed towards have had other charitable funders including the country’s largest sporting charity, the Football Foundation. A good example of that is the announcement we made recently of our funding for a London Borough of Hackney project at Hackney Marshes in which the Football Foundation is a co-funder. In its last financial year alone, the Football Foundation made numerous grants to Local Authorities each in excess of £100,000 and cumulatively worth £15.5 million as well as many smaller grants.
Why is Channel 4 attacking the London Marathon?

This is really a question for Channel 4 but it should be noted that as a result of a previous Dispatches programme, the founders and the London Marathon sued Channel 4 and in 1995 Channel 4 settled the action by agreeing to pay costs and damages totaling over £1 million and by broadcasting an apology which in part said:-

“We now accept that the programme contained allegations which were wrong and should not have been broadcast and we apologise to Mr Brasher, Mr Disley and the London Marathon organisation”.

Channel 4 also undertook to the Court not to repeat the allegations.

We also note that only earlier this week another Channel 4 programme (Starsuckers) attacked another much loved charity, Band Aid/Live 8, an attack which drew a stinging response from Bob Geldof.

In the past Dispatches programmes have attacked Mother Theresa and Lord Coe so perhaps we are not in bad company.The programme makers, Blakeway Productions, promotes its links with Blakeway Koimbi School Trust, a registered charity which supports a secondary school in Kenya. Established in 2004-2005, the Trust has properly submitted returns every year since. However, according to the Charities Commission records, since 2005, it has donated not a penny to its charitable cause.

In 2005, its charitable income was a princely £3,100, while its costs were £3,018, leaving a surplus to go to charity of £82. Maybe that's where Blakeway got the idea of investigating the London Marathon.
What about Patrick Cox of Male Cancer Awareness Campaign calling the distribution of places to charities unfair?

There are over 180,000 registered charities in Great Britain and we obviously cannot satisfy the demand from all charities. Charities have rallied to support the London Marathon and its distribution system.

Jo Dyson, Chair of the Event Managers Forum an Institute of Fundraising Special Interest Group, said, "The London Marathon is one of the most important days in the fundraising calendar for thousands of charities. We recognise that the London Marathon can never satisfy all of the demands from charities and the public for places and believe that in balancing the competing demands it has made the distribution of places as fair as can be in the circumstances."

As long ago as August 2006 we told Patrick Cox that his charity could have a Silver Bond and in fact wrote saying “I urge your charity to apply as soon as possible”. He failed to do so and you would have to ask him why he fails to take up the opportunity of a Silver Bond place. He does not seem to be reluctant to explore avenues for fundraising normally and even has publically said that his charity would take money from the British National Party.

Abi Crawford, Managing Executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre said, “We know that charities without bonds want places but we find it hard to understand how they can justify wasting further charity resources in constantly trying to get the current Gold Bond system over-turned. What these few complainers are trying to do could potentially damage charities such as ourselves who have worked hard to make the Gold Bonds a success.

For charities, fundraising success does not lie solely within obtaining Gold Bond places. Any organization that is truly passionate about its cause and strongly believes that it is providing a worthwhile service will find innovative ways to fundraise and not merely rely on a Gold Bond place for their income.

It is sad that the spirit and ethos of the London Marathon is being challenged by those who it would appear; lack the ingenuity to find other ways to fundraise effectively.”

The vast majority of runners in the race have their own places, not via a charity, but 78% of them choose in any event to run for the charity of their choice. This means that every year all charities have an equal chance to try and persuade some of these tens of thousands of runners with their own places to run for them.
What about what Mike O’Reilly had to say?

Mike O’Reilly has a long history of antagonism towards the London Marathon. For example, in 2007 he threatened to sue the Royal Parks for giving permission to London Marathon for it to hold an event in one of the Royal Parks.

He wrote to the Royal Parks in August 2007 saying:-

“If this permission is not withdrawn then I will take all necessary legal action via my lawyers Mischon de Raya to prevent the event taking place on The Mall and Birdcage Walk including if necessary a High Court Injunction.”

If anyone has tried to block other races in London it is therefore clearly Mr O’Reilly.

Examples of his vitriolic statements are readily available and it is very sad that Channel 4 and Blakeway are prepared to give credence to this misguided individual. Over the years, there have been many complaints about the lack of standards of Mr O’Reilly’s race. Indeed one disgruntled runner even set up a website called British10kcomplaints.org. Many of the complaints about the race can be read on runnersworld.co.uk. Rather than continually attacking the London Marathon perhaps it would be better if he concentrated on improving the standards of his own event.

The City of London and City of Westminster have both concluded that they will not allow any new road races because of the amount of road closures for events that have already been granted. It is of no surprise to us that Mr O’Reilly has been refused permission under this policy since the London Marathon has also been refused permission for another event on the roads of these local authorities. The City of Westminster said:-

“...the use of streets in Westminster remain pressured and we are unable to consider a new road event at this time”.
What do runners and the charities think about the programme?

We are delighted by the support that we have received from runners, charities and others. We have been inundated with messages of support from people and groups attacking Channel 4 for their irresponsible reporting. Many of the social media sites have also had similar messages.

Perhaps the last word should go to another great race, the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON whose Race Director Mark Milde said,

“We find it quite unbelievable that the London Marathon is being attacked for “only” making a profit of 25% all of which it hands over to charity. The London Marathon is the envy of the running world and has established a benchmark that others aspire to. We know of no other race that makes such a high net margin and the fact that it is all handed over to charity is a fantastic advertisement for Britain. To have such a charity involvement is beyond imagination for Berlin."

Friday 9th April 2010

WORLD marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe has revealed she is expecting her second child in September.

The 36-year-old Loughborough University graduate said that she and husband Gary Lough wanted a second baby in 2010 to give her time to return to action in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

"We're very pleased. We are very lucky that everything so far has worked out as we had hoped," said Radcliffe.

"As always when nature is involved it's hard to plan, but the idea was we could get pregnant this year and have 2011 to comfortably come back to racing."

She gave birth to her first child, daughter Isla, in January 2007. Radcliffe returned to training within two weeks of her 27-hour labour, but plans a more leisurely approach with her second child.

"I plan to run through as before but to come back a bit slower than last time when I was back a bit too quickly," she said.

"The 2012 Olympics is the big goal and we think this works out perfectly for that."

Radcliffe, who has not competed since finishing fourth in last November's New York marathon, has remained in full-time training and recently returned from a Nike camp in Portland, Oregon.

Saturday 10th April 2010

YELENA Isinbayeva the reigning Pole vault world record holde rhas decided to take "an indefinite break from competitions" after failing to medal at last month's World Indoor Championships.

Isinbayeva finished only fourth in Doha and the disappointing display came six months after crashing out without making a height at the World Outdoor Championships. The 27-year-old Russian feels she needs a rest her body.

She said in a press release: "I have been thinking over this very carefully for the last three weeks and now come to the conclusion that a break from competing is absolutely necessary for me," said the 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion and 2006 European Athletics Championships gold medalist in a press release.

Her decision comes after she struggled to find her old form at the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, last month and failed to defend her title, finishing fourth.

Isinbayeva has been the dominant figure in her event since 2004 and the list of her accolades is a lengthy one.

She has set 27 world records - 15 outdoors and 12 indoors - and also won at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships as well as at the 2004, 2006 and 2008 World Indoor Championships.

Her latest world record of 5.06m came last summer in Zurich with her nearest rival on the all-time rankings being the American vaulter Jenn Suhr (nee Stucynski) who has cleared 4.92m.

Isinbayeva was the 2004, 2005 and 2008 women's IAAF Athlete of the Year and she was also the 2005 and 2008 European Athlete of the Year.

However, in the last eight months, she has suffered surprising defeats at both last summer's World Championships and also the World Indoor Championships.

"After more than eight years of very hard training and competing at the highest levels both indoors and outdoors each year I need to step back in order for my body to properly recover. It is my full intention to continue training and keep myself fit," she added.

"At this moment I cannot exactly say when I will return to competitions. I have not completely ruled out the entire summer circuit or the European Championships in Barcelona.

"Nothing has changed with my long term goals which includes the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I hope for everyone's understanding and support. Thank you."

Friday 9th April 2010

CHANNEL 4's controversial Dispatches programme airs tonight reporting on the London Marathon and in particular how much money it generates, how much it costs to stage, and how it is used by charities to fundraise.

Journalist Ben Laurance interviews charities to find out how much they pay to take part in the event and the competition amongst charities to gain places. He also talks to charities who do not get a chance to benefit from the UK's largest fundraising event and "the biggest one-day fundraising event in the world".

The 2010 Virgin London Marathon takes place on 25 April. In 2009, 36,000 participants raised £47 million for charities.

The London Marathon organisers have released a statement on the C4 programme's allegations:
Statement:

The London Marathon Limited and the London Marathon Charitable Trust Limited totally deny any allegations of wrongdoing and are surprised and shocked at the lack of evidence presented by the programme's so-called investigative team to support this desperate attempt to undermine one of the world's finest sporting events.

We have repeatedly offered to meet the programme makers – an offer which has been repeatedly rejected. They have also refused to allow us on to the programme to say what we wanted to say unedited.

We have nothing to hide and all our financial activities, whether it is the actual organisation of the London Marathon, the distribution of grants from the London Marathon Charitable Trust or our relationships with charities and runners, are transparent and subject to intense scrutiny by independent organisations and approved by them.

In attacking the money that The London Marathon Limited gives to its charity the programme displays breathtaking ignorance about the way charities trade to raise funds. Virtually every major charity in Britain has a separate trading company. Just like them the whole of the profit of our trading company goes to charity but only after the costs of putting on the event which include costs such as the expense of toilets, barriers, venue hire, staff, rent and all of the other costs of every year staging 5 world class events, and putting on Britain's largest consumer fitness show.

The programme has also conveniently but not unexpectedly ignored all the positive responses it has received from the various charities, councils and others it has contacted during its so-called investigation.

Charities have also rallied to support the London Marathon. Jo Dyson, Chair of the Event Managers Forum an Institute of Fundraising Special Interest Group, said, "The London Marathon is one of the most important days in the fundraising calendar for thousands of charities. We recognise that the London Marathon can never satisfy all of the demands from charities and the public for places and believe that in balancing the competing demands it has made the distribution of places as fair as can be in the circumstances."

Nick Barrett, Chief Executive of The Outward Bound Trust said, "The Outward Bound Trust has a number of choices of where to advertise and chooses the London Marathon packages because in our experience they are effective and offer good value."

David Bedford, Race Director of the London Marathon, said, "Perhaps we should not be surprised that a programme that has lied about the London Marathon previously now broadcasts a toxic mixture of opinions and half truths masquerading as facts."

The grants made by The London Marathon Charitable Trust have helped over 750 projects in London and in particular have helped save many playing fields from being developed. Alex Welsh, Chief Executive of The London Playing Fields Foundation said, "There is little doubt that without the vision and generosity of the London Marathon Charitable Trust grassroots sporting provision in London would be a lot poorer."

The London Marathon Charitable Trust is proud of the way in which it has helped to provide the millions of Londoners with improved recreational facilities. Only yesterday it announced £500,000 awarded to Hackney Marshes to transform the home of grassroots football and to improve sports facilities.

In addition, in February this year it was announced that The London Marathon Charitable Trust was helping to save another London playing field from closure - Camden Community Football and Sports Association had been awarded £700,000 to purchase Chase Lodge Sports Ground from the London Borough of Camden - the sixth set of playing fields to be saved with help from the Trust in the last eight years.

We will be referring the production company, Blakeway, and Channel 4 to OFCOM to consider its journalistic methods and its failure to meet us to discuss in detail these allegations.

Dispatches: Tracing the Marathon's Millions will be broadcast tonight, Friday 9 April 2010, at 20.00 on Channel 4. It will be repeated on Friday 16 April on Channel 4 at 03.55.
www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-58/episode-1

Wednesday 7th April 2010

OLYMPIC Dreams returns to follow more British athletes in their bid to reach the London 2012 Olympic Games as a new series begins on BBC One.

The third series of Olympic Dreams focuses on a mixture of British stars hitting new heights in Olympic sports, and young hopefuls trying to take the right steps to represent Team GB in two years' time.

What happens when their best is not enough? What happens when they fail on an international stage? What happens when they have given up everything for a goal that suddenly seems out of reach?

Find out when the first programme is broadcast at 2235 BST on Tuesday, 13th April, with the second at the same time on Tuesday, 20th April.

In the first programme, follow diver Tom Daley as he copes with the distractions of being a teenage sports star - from an appearance on TV show The Weakest Link to having to move school to avoid bullying.

Meanwhile, heptathlete Jessica Ennis is tackling one of her events in an entirely new way in order to beat a potentially career-ending foot injury, while young sprinter Shaunna Thompson finds health problems of her own to overcome.

judoka Ashley McKenzie finds himself fighting his temper, which may yet jeopardise his hopes of representing Britain in 2012.

Wednesday 7th April 2010

WORLD 800 metres champion Caster Semenya has confirmed she will return to competitive action on June 24th in Zaragoza, Spain.

The South African, who underwent tests to determine her gender, has not raced since winning gold at last summer's World Championships in Berlin.

The 19-year-old also revealed she has decided against taking Athletics South Africa (ASA) to court after the organisation did not allow her to run at a meet in Stellenbosch last week.

The results of Semenya's tests last year were first expected in November but the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced last month that the case had still not been concluded.