London Marathon 2018 race day information

We are so looking forward to having you as part of our team on Sunday 22nd April. Please included below some links to useful information for the day in this email. Please refer to the relevant section relating to your start point.

Brand new for 2018, you can now add a CRY London Marathon frame to your Facebook profile picture! We have created this to help you raise some extra awareness and let the world of Facebook know what you are doing. The frame will also be available to use as a camera filter on Facebook on Sunday. To view or add to profile picture please click here.

OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AT THE EXPO

All runners must register and collect their running numbers before Race Day from the Virgin Money London Marathon Expo, ExCel London, E16 1XL.

You must print and take the email you received, which included your registration form and photographic I.D., please see pages 04-05 of the Marathon News e-magazine for more information.

CRY will not be attending the Expo but look forward to meeting you all, hopefully, on Marathon day.

RED AND BLUE START RUNNERS

On the morning of race day, Nat Jenkins and Hiddy Denizer (both male CRY staff members) and Rob (CRY volunteer) will be near the Red Start at Blackheath Avenue (which is also en route to the Blue start from Greenwich Station), on The Avenue (lined with trees – look out for the CRY flag), between 8.30am and 9.35am. Please go along and meet them and other CRY runners and have your picture taken, with any of your supporters who are with you, before you set off. If you have any problems finding Nat and Hiddy, Nat can be contacted on 07720 405 774 and will do his best to help.

GREEN START RUNNERS

Nicola Wright (CRY staff member) will be near the Green Start entrance (look out for the CRY flag), between 8.30am and 9.35am. If you would like to meet Nicola and other Green Start runners before you set off, Nicola would be delighted to see you and your supporters and take your picture. Nicola will be as close to the assembly area entrance as possible, if you have any problems locating Nicola please contact her on 07525 103 926 and she will do her best to help.

ALL RUNNERS

Both Nat and Hiddy’s, and Nicola’s locations have been marked on the Start Area map. Please click here to view the map.

We have a few cheerers located at miles 12 and 23 – look and listen out for them – they’ll be shouting for you! We do not have a CRY official cheering point but will be encouraging all CRY supporters to cheer at these two locations. For more information please see page 18 of your Marathon News e-magazine.

Mile 12 is close to Bermondsey tube station and mile 23 is next to the Tower of London. Please encourage your friends and family to cheer for all CRY runners here, and to take photographs of any CRY runners that they see – if you could forward any that they take to [email protected], we would be extremely grateful. It’s always lovely to have shots of our amazing runners.

Please click here to view the map of mile 12 and click here to view the map of mile 23.

AT THE END OF THE RACE

Please do not go to the A to Z meeting area when you cross the finish line. Look out for the Duke of York monument on your left (a statue atop a huge column – another statue is located directly opposite on the other side of the street), and turn left up the Duke of York steps, directly in front of the column. When you reach the top of the steps, you will be on Waterloo Place. Please look out for CRY representatives wearing CRY T-shirts and holding a CRY flag. They will be looking out for you!

There will be two minibuses providing a shuttle service and these will be available to transport CRY runners after the Marathon from Waterloo Place to the hotel. Please click here to view the map of the finish area, showing Waterloo Place and where CRY Representatives will be based, waiting to meet you and direct you to the minibus shuttle. Whilst we operate this shuttle service primarily for runners, if there is any spare room on a trip we may also be able to accommodate some of your family/friends. As I am sure you will appreciate, the traffic on Marathon Day is very heavy so you may have a bit of a wait for the CRY shuttle, but the CRY representatives will keep you company and have a few drinks and snacks with them.

You may, of course, make your own way to the Hilton Hotel if you do not wish to wait for the shuttle. The hotel is just under a mile from the finish, off Piccadilly, and very close to Green Park Station; please click here to view a map of the hotel location. A volunteer will be in the reception area to escort you to the Blake Suite, ready for your well-earned massage and shower. Please click here to view CRY’s race day timetable, which you may find helpful.

Should you need to contact us on the day, Rebecca Zouvani’s mobile number is 07958 252 081, Cara MacMillan’s is 07872 604 159 and Nicola Wright’s is 07525 103 926, but reception at the Hilton Hotel is very poor, so if you cannot get through, please call the hotel on 020 7629 7522 and ask to speak to one of us.

A course map can be found in the Marathon News e-magazine on page 18. To view maps of the first 6 miles until mile 26 please go to the London Marathon website and view the ‘Spectator Info’ webpage. We would recommend asking your supporters to view the ‘Spectator Info’ webpage – it is full of very helpful information regarding getting around London on Race Day.

Pages 10-12 of Marathon News e-magazine – ‘General Travel Information’ and ‘Getting to the Start Areas by train’ may be of help when planning your journey. Runners travel free on London Underground, DLR, and by trains provided by Southeastern that run from central London stations only. To obtain free travel, please show your running number to station staff. Spectators must pay the normal fee but are not encouraged to travel to the start due to the high volume of people on all public transport, and road closures.

POST-RACE FACILITIES

We will, once again, be offering post-race facilities at the Hilton Hotel, Half Moon Street in Green Park and a shuttle service will be available for our runners from the finish to the Hotel. We hope that you’ll be able to join us there for a well-deserved shower and massage following the race. We look forward to congratulating you and thanking you in person for all your hard work and support. We have a great massage team who have volunteered their time and expertise completely free of charge and we have booked five bedrooms for shower facilities, so we hope that this will go some way towards aiding your recovery. Refreshments will also be available for runners. Your family and friends are more than welcome to join you at the hotel too. If it becomes too crowded, we may need to ask your supporters to move to the hotel bar until you have finished.

The Hilton Hotel, Green Park have very kindly offered a 20% discount on food and beverage orders placed at the bar on Sunday. Please ask your family and friends to mention that they are with a CRY runner when ordering their food and/or drinks, to obtain the discount on their order.

Please note: At the time of the London Marathon e-magazine going to press, there is planned industrial action on the DLR network on Race Day, Sunday 22 April. The London Marathon are monitoring this situation closely and will be in touch via email to update runners as further information becomes available. For further information call 0343 222 1234 or visit the TFL website (Service and network charges apply. See terms & conditions for details.)

Any queries you may have regarding the race itself or the Marathon Exhibition should be directed to CRunCH if you are a CRY Place runner. Please refer to your Pre-race info download in YOUR SPACE on www.crunch.org.uk for key pre-race and on-the-day practical advice and also watch out for a new Team News message, also in YOUR SPACE, giving details of how to send “offline” money to CRY. If you are an Own Place runner and have any questions please contact the London Marathon help desk on 020 7902 0200. We will be pleased to help with any queries relating to fundraising, after race facilities, cheering points etc.

Finally, we hope you enjoy the day! We are very much looking forward to meeting you and hope you are able to come to the hotel after the race. Thank you from all of us at CRY for your incredible hard work and support, which is truly valued and appreciated.

Good luck!