80,000 Self-Torture places filled in 24 hours

Anyone would balk at the idea of walking a mile to work or the train station. Imagine asking you to do that 26 times back-to-back and then say, "Hey, thanks for doing that. Now please pay £1 for every mile you've done!" How would you feel?

But that's exactly what more than 120,000 people are now fighting for in order to be given the chance to do that!

I received the London Marathon newsletter that all of the 80,000 online entry ballots in the first phase have been snapped up in 24 hours.

A further 40,000 will be up for grabs on 21 April with 5000 through paper ballot entries. Overseas runners can call to pre-register at 020 7902 0200 on the same day.

This could potentially mean more than 120,000 runners will be vying for the 26.2-mile self-torture next year! Since it's a ballot, only 1/3 would make it to run! Put simply, only the chosen ones get to self-torture. Err...that's sad, right?

What's wrong with these guys??!!!! Why would anyone pay £26 to inflict torture to their bodies? £26 can buy two weeks' worth of groceries from the Tesco's Finest range.

Marathon races defy human logic. We can neither say more than 120,000 people are indeed suffering from a self-harm psychological disorder nor running is the manifestation of "self-aggrandisement" of what runners couldn't achieve in other more selective sports e.g football, rugby or cricket.

Somehow this was what I questioned when I joined the Pacesetters Athletics Club Malaysia back in 2002. It didn't make sense at all.

Now that I blog this, I realise this would be the same question people will ask me. "Why do you want to run so far?" At first, it was difficult to imagine doing a marathon. Then it was difficult to imagine not doing it anymore. This week, it was extremely difficult to imagine if I didn't become part of the 120,000 "mentally disorder" people. I didn't want difficulties imagining things anymore. So I signed up for the ballot. Now I just hope I am one of the chosen ones to self-torture in 2009.