Phase 1 of the Flora London Marathon 2009 online entry ballot has now closed

[marathondan]

EG - I must add my voice to the clamour for your writing. There's no point trying to decide which of the talented writers on this forum is the "best" - 'twould be like comparing a cold Guinness with a quality single malt, for example - but your blog posts were / are a work of art. I'll leave it at that.

Sweder - re the "Cycle the Nile"... are you sure they don't mean pedalos?

And re the smokers - are we guilty of being a bit judgemental / harsh? If a fun runner picked up a pint on the way round, would we be so appalled? Or indeed a decent runner who felt the (inexplicable) need for a drag during the race. It's not the smoking per se that's the problem, it's just those who treat it as a walkathon. Only credible solution for me: a cutoff time, unless you are exempted in advance by means of old age or a serious fancy dress outfit.