Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 Supporter s Guide Your essential guide to cheering them on!
The importance of cheering Do not underestimate the power of someone shouting your name and cheering you on especially for a runner at mile 23 with very tired legs. Let last year s runners tell you Thanks again for all your support yesterday. The cheering points made a real difference and seeing all the ambassadors at mile 23 was fantastic and just the inspiration I needed to get through those last hard miles. Whizz-Kidz, thank you so much! Your support was absolutely fantastic - each time I ran by the stands the cheer really helped and totally got me through. Fantastic day! Thanks for cheering me on so brilliantly! I can really say I enjoyed every minute and I never thought I would say that! My girls loved cheering with you at 19.
Whizz-Kidz cheer-points Whizz-Kidz has 5 cheering points along the course with mile 23 being extra special as that is where our young people will be cheering from! Come and join us and make us the loudest groups on the course! We need lots of great photos of Whizz-Kidz runners so why not try and capture these images for you to remember the day and send your best ones to events@whizz-kidz.org.uk We will endeavour to be as close to where the maps overleaf indicate but if you can t find us do look a little further down the road and keep an eye out for a mass of green t-shirts and banners!
Speak up Twitter: Get Tweeting @WhizzKidz twitter.com/whizzkidz and let us know what it s like at your cheer-point #TeamWhizzKidz Facebook: Upload your photos to the Team Whizz-Kidz page at facebook.com/teamwhizzkidz Instagram: Make sure you get a photo of your runner at one of our cheer-points and with their medal at the end of the race and upload to @whizzkidzuk using the hashtag #TeamWhizzKidz Television: Members of the press may want to ask you a few questions. If you could say something that follows our focus as a charity that would be great! For example Whizz-Kidz supports children to have independence by providing wheelchairs and other mobility equipment or Whizz-Kidz has helped over 13,000 disabled children and young people since 1990, and need funds to help many more
The cheer-point map Once you ve finished cheering you can meet your runner at our Race Recovery Reception at the Royal Institute of Great Britain where we are streaming the London Marathon live!
Mile 9 Surrey Quays We ll be there by 9.30am in order to get a good spot and watch the elite women. Mass participants will start to go past this cheer-point at around 10:50am. All of our runners should still be smiling at this point! It would be great to see you here and we will be located on the left-hand side of the course. It s then very easy to get the tube to Canary Wharf for mile 19 or London Bridge for mile 23. Closest tube: Canada Water (Jubilee line & London Overground) These stations are accessible for disabled customers. There are also accessible toilets at the Decathlon store across from the cheer-point)
Mile 12.5 Tower Bridge We will be there from 9:30am on the middle of the bridge on the left-hand side of the course. Mass participants will start to go by at around 11:35am. This gets extremely busy so get here early for a good spot. This is a really fun cheer-point but be prepared for a jostle. The mass participants will start to come past this cheer-point at around 12:30pm. This cheer-point is just down the road from The Bridge pub which will be supporting Whizz-Kidz so if you re in need of a refreshment after all of that cheering Closest tube: Tower Hill (District and Circle line or DLR) Tower Gateway (DLR) is the closest accessible station for disabled customers.
Mile 19 Canary Wharf Our runners will really need your help here as this is a tough part of the course. Please rally around here if you can. We will be there from 10:30am on the left-hand side of the course. The mass participants will start to go past this cheer-point at around 12:30pm. Closest tube: Canary Wharf (Jubilee line) Heron Quays (DLR) These stations are accessible for disabled customers.
Mile 22/19 The Highway A long road and a tough part of the run. We will be there from 10:00am as the route doubles back here so you should be able to see your runner twice! (It s great if you only want to stay in one spot). It tends to be a bit quieter here so good if you have little ones to look after. If walking down from the Tower Hill cheering point make sure you take the north side of the road. Mass participants will start to come past mile 13 around 11:45am and mile 22 at 1:00pm. Closest tube: Shadwell DLR & London Overground. Shadwell DLR is accessible for disabled customers.
Mile 23 The Monument pub Another cheering point located close by to a pub! This will be a great place to be as lots of the kids themselves will be here for you to meet and is the last Whizz-Kidz cheering point along the course so a really important one for our runners. Mass participants will start to come past this cheer-point at around 1:05pm. Closest tube: Monument (District and Circle line or DLR from Tower Hill and/or catch the District and Circle line to St James s Park for mile 26 outside Buckingham Palace at the finish. Bank on the DLR is the closest accessible station for disabled customers).
Race Recovery Reception Come along to our post-race celebrations at the Royal Institute of Great Britain to meet up with your runner and watch the race in the theatre. The reception is a 10 min walk from the finish line along The Mall and we will have marshals along the road leading up to the venue to point you in the right direction. We will be ready for action from 12:00 noon and there is a café area to buy refreshments (free food and drink for runners.) The theatre will be screening the London Marathon live so, after you have cheered your runner on at one of our cheer-points, head to the Race Recovery Reception to meet them. See the map overleaf for directions to the reception.
RIGB Race Recover Reception Mini-bus pickup for runners Finish Line WK marshals
If you have any questions please get in touch on 0207 233 9696 or email us at events@whizz-kidz.org.uk You will be able to buy supporter packs at the London Marathon Expo which include banger sticks, a t-shirt and balloons. Thank you once again for supporting Whizz-Kidz at our biggest fundraising event of the year!