| 1 REGISTRATION FORM AND
RUNNING NUMBER
With your Programme you will have received your registration
form which shows your running number. Do not lose it! You
must exchange this for your number and kitbag at Registration
in the ExCel Exhibition Centre - Your acceptance slip sent to you in December is not acceptable. You will be asked to sign the declaration on your Registration Form in front of the Registration Clerk. You may be asked for personal identification. With your number and kitbag you will also be given a set of final instructions. Please read them carefully. While preferring you to register in person, we recognise that in some cases this may be impossible.You can nominate someone to collect your number for you. The person you nominate must have the following: a letter written and signed by you, authorising that person - by name - to collect your number. You must also sign your registration form before handing it to them. Your signature will be checked against your original entry form. The person collecting your running number should have suitable identification with them. Failure to comply with the above instructions may lead to your running number not being issued. Finally, take care of your running number and fill in the medical information on the reverse side. Do not tamper with your number in any way, note that duplicate numbers cannot be issued under any circumstances. OVERSEAS RUNNERS - There are special desks for overseas runners at registration. They will be clearly marked. You must register and collect your number before Race Day. Registration is at the ExCel Exhibition Centre, 1 Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL and is open at the following times: Wednesday 14th April to Friday 16th April, 10am-8pm and Saturday 17th April, 8am-5pm. The nearest station is Crossharbour & London Arena on the Docklands Light Railway. Please try to register on Wednesday or Thursday if you live in or around London. This will allow Friday and Saturday for runners from further afield. After registering, take some time to look round the Flora London Marathon Exhibition - the biggest of its kind in the UK. The Flora London Marathon times every single runner by use of a transponder and ChampionChip worn on the runners’ shoes. Official results and times will be based on the elapsed time taken by each runner between the Start line and Finish Line. You will be issued with your chip at Registration. You must wear a chip to get an official finishing time. Special trains, courtesy of Connex will be running to the Starts from Charing Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge at frequent intervals between 7am and 9am. See point 9 to confirm which start you are on. If you are starting from the BLUE START you must catch a train that goes to Blackheath Station. From there you can easily walk to the Start in 15-20 minutes. If you are starting at the RED START, your trains go to either Greenwich or Maze Hill - both stations are about 20 minutes walk from the Red Start. Runners arriving at Greenwich Station must use the St Mary’s Gate entrance (William Walk/Romney Road). Runners arriving at Maze Hill Station should use the National Maritime Museum gate entrance. No cars are allowed into the Park. If you are starting from the GREEN START you should catch a train to Maze Hill, from there it is a 15-20 minute walk to the Green Start. Subject to your acceptance of the conditions of travel, a copy of which will be included with your final instructions at Registration, travel for competitors is free on these trains only - your running number will be your ticket (Travel on connecting Underground services are not free). Non-runners must purchase a ticket as normal. Blackheath has limited car parking areas and these will be signposted. However, please remember that all roads in the vicinity of the Start will be closed by 8am. No parking will be allowed at the Finish. 6 WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR BELONGINGS
At registration you will be given an envelope containing
your running number and an adhesive numbered sticker. This
sticker must be fixed to the front of the kitbag which you
will be given as you leave the Registration Area. On April 13th, we suggest you wear old clothes or a bin-liner before reporting to the Start. Yes, a bin-liner! With holes cut for the head and arms, it will provide you with neat, disposable, waterproof protection. At the right time, put your clothes in the kit bag and place them on the baggage vehicles supplied by TNT parked nearby. The baggage vehicles will not accept any other bag except the official kit bag which should display your running number (see note 6) on the adhesive sticker. You will be advised by our Public Address when to hand in your kitbag. At that time look for the vehicle which bears numbers relating to your running number. At the Finish, you will be able to collect your kit bag from the same vehicle, parked in The Mall, on production of your running number. If you have to drop out for any reason, make your way to the Finish to retrieve your kitbag. You can travel free - on production of your race number - on Docklands Light Railway and London Underground and you should head for Charing Cross or Embankment Station. Then walk across Trafalgar Square and through Admiralty Arch to The Mall. Free travel only applies to runners who, having dropped out of the race, are returning to the finish. You cannot use your race number to travel home after the race or after Registration. Kit bags not collected by 5.30pm will be taken to our office. Contact us there after Race Day. Your number tells you where to start. Numbers 151 to 1,000 are Championship competitors. Your number will be blue on a white background and you will start at the Blue Start on Blackheath. Use Blackheath Station if you are travelling by train. Your final instructions (Which you will have collected at Registration) will include details of the special arrangements for you at the Start. Numbers 1,001 to 28,000 also have a blue number on a white background and will start at the Blue Start. Use Blackheath Station if travelling by train. Numbers from 28,001 to 33,250, you will have a green number on a white background and will start from the Green Start on Blackheath. Use Maze Hill Station. Numbers 33,251 to 59,000 will have a red number on a white background and will start from the Red Start which assembles inside Greenwich Park. Use Greenwich or Maze Hill stations. • There will be drinks and toilets at all three starts. • The Elite women and Women’s Championship races (Blue Start) will begin at 9.05am (slightly changed for 2004). • The wheelchair races are now separated. Women start at 8.55am, men start at 9.15am (both at Blue Start). • The Elite men and Men’s Championship races (Blue Start), the runners at the Green Start and the Mass Field at the Red Start will begin at 9.45am. Runners on the Red, Blue and Green Starts should position themselves in the marked time zones according to the small number (1-9) which is on their running number. Make sure you get there in plenty of time - it will get crowded! If the day is chilly, wear some old clothes or dustbin bags which you can discard safely. Remember that your running number must not be obscured while you are running. You must be fit and well to run a marathon. Severe exertion during or soon after any kind of fever is extremely dangerous. If you find yourself in this situation you must withdraw - even if this is the first time you have been accepted for the Race after years of trying. If you withdraw and use the following procedures we will guarantee you an entry for the 2005 race - subject to you paying the 2005 entry fee. This is what you must do: 1) Return your registration form to this address: Withdrawals, Flora London Marathon, PO Box 3460, London SE1 8YN, latest postmark - 18th April 2004. 2) If you become ill or injured after you have collected your running number, return it to the Help Desk in Registration at the London Arena before 4pm on Saturday 17th April or post it to the address above, latest postmark 18th April 2004. Ill or injured people who withdraw from the 2004 Race will be accepted for the 2005 race unless they have already carried their entry over from the 2003 race - providing they pay the appropriate entry fee and follow the correct procedure for withdrawal. Runners will receive an ‘Ill or Injured’ entry form for the 2005 Flora London Marathon by the 31st May 2004. If you have not heard from us by the above date, please telephone our Helpline on 0207 902 0189 immediately. The closing date for completed entry forms is 14th June 2004. Late entry forms WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Once you cross the finish line your ChampionChip will be removed, after that please try to keep moving. If you become distressed our medical staff and St John Ambulance officers will be at hand to care for you. NOTE: If you are on medication or have a physical condition that could affect your treatment, please write the details on the reverse of your running number and put a red cross on the front. Once your ChampionChip has been removed you will receive your souvenir medal. You will then be given a goody bag which contains your Finisher shirt, Vittel water, Lucozade Sport, a foil blanket and a food item. You should then proceed as quickly as possible to reclaim your numbered kitbag from the baggage vehicles; you must show your running number to do this. Then move away from the Baggage vehicles area and put on some warm clothing. Do not linger in the Finish areas eating, drinking or comparing notes - please vacate these areas as soon as you are able; remember, over 30,000 runners must pass through there. If the day is wet, you will be able to shelter and change clothes in the underground car park at Waterloo Place on the left-hand side of The Mall looking towards Admiralty Arch. This will be signposted. 12 MEETING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
There will be a repatriation area in Horse Guards Road and Horse Guards Parade with areas marked by letters of the alphabet - meet at your family initial or at another pre-arranged letter. A good idea is to arrange for a third party to be at home on race day so that you can communicate through them if for some reason you and your family cannot find each other. Heavy mobile phone traffic on all networks around the Finish area means it may be impossible to get a signal. Do not rely on your mobile as your only means of communication. Overseas runners have their own dedicated repatriation area in the Mall, close to Admiralty Arch. Please note: there will be a PA system in operation throughout the day at the Finish, this is only for the official race commentary and emergency announcements, NOT for runners seeking lost friends or family. © copyright The London Marathon Ltd. |
