Shakespeare MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (815 votes). 2011 race reviewed by: ste hughes
 | | Overall score | | 40% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 20% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: first and last time
In full: Where do i start i took the place from another runner who was unable to run the rd wasn't very helpful at all seemed to be a case of got the money don't care and to charge a fiver to tranfer is criminal just to change a few details on a computer. For a full marathon imo the roads should have been closed.Got to the first water stop bottled water great there after in cups tescos own water i might add.The people on the water stations and marshalls were great and polite.No energy stations on the route whatsoever and then at the end a nice medal a small bottle of water and banana for the goody bag apart from medals,said water,bananas, portaloos what did the best part of80 grand get spent on?Some people may not agree with my opinion but this is what this forum is for to improve the races, this was my 56th race in 16 month and was in my top five of well below par value
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Pete Rabey
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Nice route, organization keeps getting better, well marshalled, thank you.
In full: The 9:30 start is good for a race that might get hot later (it did), the car parking is subsidised now, loads of drink stations - mostly cups but bottles at 3 and 14 miles. I like the greenway! Pretty route, friendly support. I'll be back, again. How about another bottle or two and some gels next year?
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: leadfoot
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Great first marathon - good marshalling
In full: This was my first marathon. Got rather hot towards the end and I appreciated the young girls with the garden hose giving me a welcome cool down. Minor point is that a free T shirt would have been good.
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: John Hanson 5
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: loved it
In full: This was my second efffort and probably last go at the distance. Had some great banter around the course-with runners/marshalls and spectators. Do agree the cups were a mistake and the water tasted odd to me. Some of the villages were special. If I come back it will be for the half.
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Duncan Clark 6
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Got a PB...but plastic cups were a nightmare!
In full: Enjoyed my first Shakespeare Marathon today and beat my PB by 14 minutes coming in at 3:39. Really good organisation and friendly atmosphere. The Greenway second time around felt very uphill in comparison to the first time! I agree with other comments re plastic cups: a nightmare to drink from. And lack of goodie bag did come across as a little miserly. But enjoyed the expereince and may think about doing again.
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: phil miles 4
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Very pleasant day
In full: Was going to do the half following illness, but given the fortunate weather, and slow start, pushed on for a personal worst (!) time, that will teach me!!!
It is a lovely race, very scenic, and onpy the Greenway is a challenge, as it tends to be a long, warm run in, but the villages are beautiful to run through - after 11 marathons, this is still one of the best looking around. Marshalls were....efficient? Not overly encouraging, but all very helpful when you needed them, though a little more encouragement wouldn't go a miss!
Only gripe would be the start - got very congested in the first mile and a half, ran my slowest ever first mile (9:45!) because of the bottle neck in town...other than that, lovely medal (even though it says half & full on it) and welcoming cup of tea at the end - thanks Stratford!
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Mark Bonham-Carter
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Great Views
In full: Great views. Nice Organisation (special thanks to the Sea Cadets at bag drop...)
Ok, personally, I have run numerous races and if you set your mind to it, I think you can pick holes in every single race if you really want to. It's true, some aspects really don't work like the cups, and the single file running, but to balance it out, the course is really really great. It's not a killer, but certainly challenging.
Importantly, we were all marshalled properly and safely and hopefully everybody got around safe and sound. For me, this is #1.
I'll be returning in 2012...and hope the organisers raised a big fat amount of cash for their nominated charities...!!!
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: William Strickland
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: First marathon, and really enjoyed it. Testing but not tough, friendly and slick without the entry problems and potential logistical issues of VLM
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by:
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 20% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: bottles please- cups are no use ......
In full: the scenery of the race i stunning.the organisation good. a couple of gripes though...i found the race a bit penny pinching to be truthful- i know this was mentioned in previous years but plastic cups for running is just no use.we dont want to have to stop through water stations but trying to run and drink with plastic cups cant be dont- i lost my drinks up my nose or choked on it. come on organisers help us runners out! also no goody bag - no t shirt - mmmmm- first half i have done for over a year where we got neither :-( .
i personally didnt like the ipod ban so i wont be doing the race again - that said i fully understand why it was put in place- there were lots of traffic on route and the ban was needed for safety. this race is worth doing for the scenery- glad i did it - but probably not again for me.
crowd support was amazing - thank you marshalls and people of stratford for your encouragment - thanks especially to the people who played music to us from their houses - it helped with the ipod ban
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Gemma Roberts 4
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Beautiful Scenery, Amazing Local Support, Pretty Poor Organisation & PLASTIC CUPS!!!
In full: This was my first marathon (Adidas half being first race this year) and all in all it was a good experience, but i must say organisation for runners (single file running in places?!?!?Not good when you get stuck behind someone slower than you, and im not one to push or shove people out the way) or supporters (my mum & co only saw me at the start and finish as could not locate information on mile markers and whereabouts very easily -commented they only came across one map) and as for the plastic cups...wellllll...on the second lap for fear of passing out due to heat i had to slow down a lot or even stop to ensure i actually drank some of what was given, terrible waste of good water as well. Saying all this the scenery was beautiful at points,it wasn't too hilly and the locals were fabulous,overall i dont think i will return as an earlier race offering proper bottle might be a better option (i know i hark on about this point but i really do believe it lost me at least 3 minutes, and when you do a 4:02:40 that huuuurts your pride a lot :) x
Date of review: May 8, 2011
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