Frequently asked questions
Welcome to our FAQs - hopefully these questions and answers will provide all you need to know about the club. If not, members of the committee will be happy to hear from you.
Small Print: These FAQs are intended to be helpful and instructive however if there is any difference between these FAQs and the Club Rules & Constitution then the latter will provide the definitive answer.
Please contact the most relevant member of the committee regarding your question or issue.
Full contact details are available here
https://www.100marathonclub.org.uk/contents/864-contact-details
Please remember the committee are volunteers and will respond as soon as they can.
The Club is run by its membership who do this on a voluntary basis. A committee is elected with each role being elected by the membership for three years. Roles vary over time but currently we have a Chairperson, a Secretary, a Membership Secretary, a Treasurer, a Social Media Officer, a Kit Manager, Male and Female Wefare Officers, an Aspiring Members Representative and a Website Manager.
Profiles can be found on the 100 Marathon Club Committee page
The Club is affiliated to England Athletics via the South of England Athletics Association. Therefore if members join and pay the additional EA fees they can get race discounts and other benefits of EA membership.
The club has the same membership year as England Athletics who we are affiliated to.
It is from 1st April to 30th Match the following year.
Members (both Full and affiliated) pay for the full year unless they join after the 1st January when the membership fees (till the 1st April) will be wavered. Members have the option (if first claim) of also paying to be members of England Athletics and receiving the benefits of membership.
The club has a welfare and complaints policy on our website and this will guide you through the process. Ultimately it should be raised with our Welfare and Complaints Officer on welfare@100marathonclub.org.uk
The Welfare & Complaints Officer will be independent of the committee and will attend meetings only where necessary to report progress.
The Welfare & Complaints Officer will present an annual report to the AGM of any issues raised and action taken to resolve them.Where they feel it appropriate the Welfare & Complaints Officer will have the authority to communicate directly with all members outside the normal communications channels of the club.
The Welfare and Complaints Officers role is to investigate any issues concerning bullying by club members or officers, inappropriate behaviour of members to other members and where members believe the committee has not effectively applied the club rules.
The Club takes safeguarding its members data very seriously. The 100 Marathon Club (the Club) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For any personal data you provide for the purposes of your membership, the 100 Marathon Club is the Data Controller and is responsible for storing and otherwise processing that data in a fair, lawful, secure and transparent way.
There are two main categories of membership. Associate Members who have run between 50 and 99 qualifying marathons and “Full” members who have run 100 or more qualifying marathons.
Associate Members are equal members of the club with voting rights etc but can not wear the club kit (the blue and yellow) until they become “full” members.
You can join as an Associate Member when you have completed 50 qualifying marathons which must include 15 UK or Ireland marathons and 5 Road marathons. You may join as a Full Member when you have reached 100 qualifying marathons including 25 UK or Ireland marathons and 10 Road marathons and having been an associate member for at least three full months.
All applications for membership (either full or Associate) are dependent on submitting a complete list of marathons run and this being successfully vetted.
See questions on Vetting for draft spreadsheet.
The 100 Marathon Club is primarily a United Kingdom running club and it is felt that members should, at some stage, have completed a certain minimum number of marathons in the UK or Ireland. There are many other great 100 Marathon Clubs around the world that celebrate the achievements of runners from those countries.
The 100 Marathon Club was set up partially to support and encourage the sport of road marathon running. The Club retains this modest requirement to run a number of road marathons in totals to ensure that aim is supported going forward.
Full Club Kit (The blue and yellow!) can only be worn by full members. Associate members who are approaching full membership are asked to order their kit when they are in the 90s or at least 6 weeks before they anticipate hitting 100!
The club admits a number people to Lifetime membership. The three routes to lifetime membership are
(a) Qualify for normal membership and be 70 years of age or
(b) Been a continuous member of the Club for 10 or more years and have a vetted total of 500 or more marathons/ultras or
(c) Been a continuous member of the Club for at least 20
In addition the Committee may from time to time grant life membership to an individual.
Current life members can be found here:
https://www.100marathonclub.org.uk/contents/457-lifetime-members
When you join a running club, providing it is your only club, that is your first claim club. If you subsequently join another club, that will be your second claim club. You can race as an individual in open races for any club you are a member of. However, for league and championship races and to count as part of a scoring team, you have to compete for your first claim club, unless it is not affiliated to UKA for that discipline, or is not participating in that league. This system is primarily designed to stop elite athletes swapping from club to club regularly.
You can switch your first and second claim clubs around (see separate question)
For most members it’s a way of belonging to a national club like the 100 Marathon Club and also belonging to their local running club. The 100 MC can be either your first or second claim club.
To move from 2nd claim to 1st claim you have to complete the on line transfer request with England Athletics. This can be found on the EA website. Even if your membership with your 2nd claim club has lapsed you still have to follow this process. Once the club transfer has been accepted you will be invoiced EA affiliation fees from 100MC. EA charge an admin fee for club transfers.
Marathons must meet the strict club criteria (listed in FAQ below and in the club rules and constitition).
Generally speaking we count traditional Races and do not count solo events, training runs, virtual runs or similar.
In addition to join as an associate member your 50 marathons must include at least 5 Road Marathons and 10 UK or Ireland marathons. To join as a full member they must include at least 25 UK Marathons and 10 Road Marathons.
Yes. The listing isn’t meant to be totally inclusive, but if it’s on the list it will count.
But if a race isnt listed it doesn't mean it doesnt count. A race will count if it meets the club criteria for races (listed further down the FAQ) regardless of if it is listed or not.
To count for club purposes a Marathon must have 15 finishers and an ultra marathon must have 15 starters.
A marathon is any race of 26 miles (trail) and above or 26.2 miles (road see further definition) and an Ultra Marathon is any race whose stated distance is greater than 27 miles. (It is the races stated distance that is key rather than any individual runners GPS measurement).
A Road Marathon must be run on a sealed surface. This means it must be tar, asphalt or concrete i.e. a paved or metalled road, however in accordance with IAAF rules up to 2.6KM of the course may be on other surfaces. A UK road marathon must hold a valid Certificate of Course Measurement Accuracy issued by the Association of UK Course Measurers, meaning the course has been accurately measured by a qualified measurer. Note, although valid for ten years from measurement certificates must be renewed annually by the race director. races where this is not done will be deemed to be trail races. If a race is run over the same course as another race that has been measured, the race director must apply for a certificate for their event. For road marathons overseas the event must hold a measurement certificate issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), or a body recognised and licenced by IAAF to carry out such measurements..,
A Trail Marathons an event which is not predominantly run on a sealed surface or which does not hold a certificate of course measurement accuracy. A trail marathon may be measured by a race organiser and must be at least 26 miles/42km.
Track Marathons are classed as Trail Marathons.
From June 2020 Track Marathons are counted for vetting purposes as Trail Marathons. Track marathons run before June 2020 were counted as Road marathons.
The full definition can be found in Section 13 of the Club Constitutions and this is given only as a guide to aid members
A race requires
- A Race Director
- Be open to all participants (ie not a club race etc)
- Be advertised at least 30 days prior to the event taking place
- Have 15 finishers (Marathon) or 15 starters (ultra)
- Published results
- The participant to complete the whole event
- For participants to complete in the allowed / published times
- Valid public liability insurance
The Committee will arbitrate in the case of any disputes and its decision is final.
Providing the other criteria are met then timed events will count towards membership¸ Timed Events shall count as a single event, no matter the distance covered or time allowed. A runner who completes a minimum of 26.2 miles can count a marathon or over 27 miles an ultra.
See separate FAQs below on Times / Challenge Events
Relay events where the runner is part of a team do not count towards membership totals regardless of the total distance covered on the individuals legs of the relay.
For a relay event to count the runner must enter as a solo participant (not part of a team) and run at least the marathon distance.
Each individual day or stage of a multi-day event can be counted as a marathon or ultra if the following criteria are met.
(a) It is possible to enter each individual day or stage as a separate independent event.
(b) That individual day or stage is at least 26 miles in length to count for a trail marathon, 26.2 miles for a road marathon or over 27 miles for an ultra.
(c) Separate results are produced for each individual day or stage. If these criteria are not met then the event shall be counted as one marathon or ultra for Club purposes.
(d) The other rules regarding a race qualifying are met