Grand Union Canal Half Marathon  Here's how RW members rated this race (173 votes). 2009 race reviewed by: Rebecca Ruff 2
 | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: great route but tricky running conditions
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Sophie Ravenscroft
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: A quiet race with few spectators but very pleasant
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Franck Zaire
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Not the best runing conditions due to the rain but very enjoyable race
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Damian Cannon 3
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: A nice, quick course with hit and miss organisation
In full: This is a fun race in the sense that it's a point-to-point course along the canal that keep you away from roads and offers a slightly different experience. However while the organisers obviously tried hard and ensured that the race itself ran well there were a few support issues - mainly the baggage van being very late and the instructions/directions being a little vague.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: snailie
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In full: Good run, fairly even (albeit muddy)terrain. Marshalls were friendly and encouraging all the way round. Minute of remembrance silence before the start was appreciated as well.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Silver Fox 2
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: great event but spoilt by bag fiasco at the end
In full: a fair course although a little slippery in places and a mild climb during the last mile. Coud improve bag collection (long queue) at the beginning and the collection of bag at the end of the event a disaster, especially for those in just a running vest!!
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Cameron Ross
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Flat course, a little muddy. But really spoiled by having to wait at the end for FORTY minutes for the bags, in the freezing wind.
In full: I disagree with other posts which say "the baggage shambles wasn't the fault of the organisers". Yes, the organisers had sub-contracted this to an outside company (fine), but really: it took over 2 hours to travel a distance which took the bus about 35 minutes in the morning. Surely it's the responsibility of the organiser to check that the baggage movers had (a) maps (b) competence and/or (c) a GPS. Yes, this sounds like a rant, but there are serious questions to be asked about a situation where 200-ish people are forced to wait without car keys, money for food, no coats/jumpers etc, in a windy, cold park. In addition, there were no regular announcements telling people what was happening with the van (I heard one only saying the van was "5 minutes away", but it didn't arrive for 30 more minutes), and no attempt to (say) give us a cup of tea from the cafe while we waited, to warm us up. If there were no medical incidents as a result, then it's purely by luck. Must try better, as for me it spoiled an otherwise friendly atmosphere.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Libbylaird
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Fabulous route with loads to look at but lacked atmosphere at the start/finish
In full: Parked at the finish and got bussed to the start which worked well. At the start there was nothing except 6 toilets (not enough, the queue was ridiculous), the luggage lorry and the start line so just a lot of standing around. The route was lovely, plenty of water stations, great marshalls, quite muddy and it was slippery in places but then that's to be expected in November. The finish was great, medals fabulous, banana and water welcoming, but then that was it. Thought it wasn't much for the entrance fee. Again nothing at the finish so a bit of an anti-climax having done a PB! Finally nobody seemed to know where the car park was in relation to the finish line so had to ask numerous people until someone could point me in the right direction! Good race but could be so much better.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Claire Wren
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Pretty place, but mud a little slowing, and few landmarks just pretty canal bridges.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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2009 race reviewed by: Wemustbemad
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Wet, muddy and slippy but enjoyable
In full: Wet, muddy and slippy but enjoyable race.
2nd time for me so expected conditions to be bad - its just that time of year.
Cowley to Watford is slightly harder but its really the mud that is energy sapping as I was skating in places.
Organisation was fine and the marshal's friendly - all apart from the bag drop which was a shambles. You really can't leave runners on a damp winters day standing around for 30 minutes getting cold whilst waiting for the van to turn up. Big black mark - but we're a forgiving bunch.
Date of review: November 8, 2009
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