SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betfair has relaunched its successful ‘Back Yourself’ campaign to mark the 2016 London Marathon. 
As such anybody taking part should visit the site as it offers runners the chance to win money for their charity by betting on themselves to hit their target time. The site will be open to all participants from Wednesday 20th April until Saturday 25th April.
There’s also a new addition to Back Yourself this year with Betfair encouraging customers who are embarking on unique and inspiring challenges, to back themselves to achieve them. This could be anything from roller-skating around the world to canoeing from the South Pole to the North Pole.
Betfair will calculate the odds of them completing their challenge and then provide them with a free bet on the outcome.
The Back Yourself site will once again ask runners taking part in this year’s London Marathon to enter a number of details about their running history, training efforts, and target time and then calculate the odds of them hitting their target. Runners can then place their £20 free bet.
If the target time is reached, the runner will need to send a screenshot of their official time to Betfair, and the bookmakers will donate the winnings plus their £20 stake to the runners’ fundraising page. If the target time is missed, the £20 free stake will be donated to Cancer Research UK.
Naomi Totten, Spokeswoman for Betfair, said: “We’re thrilled to relaunch our Back Yourself campaign as it provides a way for people who are reaching for the stars to add an extra incentive to their challenge by guaranteeing them a large donation should they manage to complete their epic adventure.”
She continued: “At Betfair we’re all about sporting excellence and striving to achieve more than the competition, so this campaign is designed to push our customers to truly unleash their potential. After Victoria Pendleton came fifth in the Foxhunter’s Chase at Cheltenham this year, just a year after riding a horse for the very first time, we’ve seen firsthand what can happen when you put your backing behind people with drive and ambition.”
One Betfair customer who has already backed himself for this year’s marathon is Rupert Arup, from Oxfordshire, who said: “My sister and I are incredibly proud to be running on behalf of the National MS Therapy Centre who have been such a fantastic support for our family since my father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. With just five days left until the big day there’s not really much else I can do in terms of training so my main focus is the final push on fundraising to ensure we raise as much money as possible.”
He added: “So Betfair’s Back Yourself campaign comes at the perfect time and also adds an extra incentive for me to hit my target on the day!”
On April 14th 2016, Richard Farquhar became the first person to benefit from the Back Yourself when his incredible Walking The Courses challenge, in which he walked between every racecourse in the country, came to an end. In doing so he raised a huge amount of money for Racing Welfare and Pancreatic Cancer UK, in memory of his late father.
Betfair provided a £40 free bet for Richard to back himself with at odds of 100/1 to complete the challenge which took place over the course of the 13 months and covered a staggering 3,000 miles. Having successfully completed the challenge, Betfair has agreed to donate £4000 to the Walking the Courses cause.
