Virgin London MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (1962 votes). 2012 race reviewed by: chris mauchline
 | | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Great atmosphere, well organized and marshaled
Date of review: May 6, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: golfer
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Best sporting event I've ever done
In full: Fantastic day and very well organised. Brilliant support from the crowds. My third marathon but first London and loved it. Only small negative was having to go to the Expo to collect running number and chip. Got a pb and will be back next year!
Date of review: May 3, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Dawn Grant 2
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Great atmosphere but too overcrowded to pace properly and what about a technical t-shirt in a variety of sizes.
In full: My first time at London and my 6th marathon overall. I found it so crowded at the start that my pace plan fell by the wayside in the first couple of miles. The lack of ability to run at pace or with my usual gait meant my legs were sore at 6 miles in. So I decided to ignore my time and just enjoy it and after the half way point things eased. The support was fantastic the whole way round. The expo was good but so large I felt I hadn't covered it properly. The goody bag was OK but what about a technical t-shirt or at least a shirt in a variety of sizes. The large size means a small woman like me now has a cotton nightshirt with London Marathon on the front.
Date of review: May 1, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Rikki Kissane
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: My first marathon, loved every second of it.
Date of review: April 30, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: RichardW
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Yet another magnificently organised race!
In full: Thank you and goodbye, Dave Bedford...and your team!
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: www.justgiving.com/superwoman63
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: WONDERFUL EVERLASTING MEMORIES
In full: My 3rd London Marathon and l was so nervous during the week leading up to it... l was scared that l would fail to FINISH because my knee wouldn't hold up ( l had a knee op in 2011 )...BUT IT DID and l had a FABULOUS time, l ran, walked, met new people en route, sang, danced , high fived, ate jelly babies, drank some beer and saw my husband and my friends that had come out to support me along the way. This is my last marathon simply because my knees will not take anymore pounding but l am so glad l had the blessing of GOOD HEALTH, MOTIVATION & COURAGE. anyone thinking of doing this SHOULD..it is the BEST RACE IN THE WORLD xX
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Julia Jenkins
| | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: Amazing experience for my first marathon
In full: Wonderful day. The support from the spectators was out of this world. The organisation very slick on the course with marshalls every 100-200 metres, ample feed stations and first aid support if required. The Expo and post-race organisation of registration, bag drop off and collection took seconds.
Only problems are, very busy in places to run, especially around 13-16, the course felt narrow and struggled to get through which was frustrating and held me back. The amount of water bottles on the floor at the each mile's water station made it quite dangerous ground to run on. I spent much of the race looking for a clear place to run, looking on the ground so not to stand on the bottles and looking up when i got chance to spot my fantastic supporters amongst the 10+deep crowd. Toilets queues too long!
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Kevin Bowen
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: First and definately not my last London.
In full: An amazing experience. I found the expo to be very well organised without and long delays picking up race numbers. This despite arriving there at 16:50 on Friday afternoon. Very good goody bags however,I sympathise with the ladies who got goody bags full of men's toiletries. I would expect the bags to be siutable for both male and female runners.
The organisation at the start was excellent. the baggage trucks were great and there were plenty of tiolets avaliable,I found a whole block of them completely empty only 40 minuts before the start. Marshalls were brilliant and St Johns Ambulance do a fantastic job.The support is life affirming and London seem's to come alive for the day. The sun shone which made it even better.
Free transport on the tube is very welcome and I found the whiole experience to be fab.
Finally the tracking service on the website is a brilliant idea. It alloes freinds and family who are unable to be in London to really feel part of the event. My wife who was in London was recieving updates via family at home as to my progress.
I will be back next year without question!
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: mark clawson
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: the best race in the world but still needs improvements
In full: my 7th london and yet again the crowds were amazing without them i would never have done it as the legs were so tired after doing the brighton marathon the week before.
For me this is simply the best race in the world but like others have mentioned it needs some tweaks i agree that since virgin took over they have cut corners the quality of the tops/jackets given to those rejected the past few years are worse than primark, the one size fits all finishers t-shirt does just that as i could fit my whole family in it.
the finish also needs re-thinking within the space of 5 mins i had my chip removed got my medal and goody bag had my photo done and collected my bag from the lorry it then took me over an hour to get out and cross the park to get to victoria station for too many poeple in one area, if it was more organised with a walking route that was'nt blocked by those who just stand there (ive run a marathon and the last thing i want to do is stand still thank you) still having said this i hope i can do it all again next year as race day is my birthday :)
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Ratboy Runner
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Great race ...... Better this year ..... but still a long way for Virgin to go
In full: I love this race, I've done it for each of the last 9 years. It is a national institution and has so many brilliant features. BUT.... since the virgin "mafia" got hold of it the quality has gone down dramatically.This year was a lot better that the last two, last year the tee shirt wasn't fit to let the dog sleep in. But, after two years of deterioration this year was a bit better, there's is a way to go though. Amuses me that VIRGIN MONEY are trying to make themselves attractive to new customers by clearly showing that, as an organisation, they cut corners on quality and increase charges to charity organisations. This is a special race and makes a fortune (120,000 X £37 ballot places alone, plus about 18000 charity places at £360 each at least!) so it has no need to cut costs anywhere.
Date of review: April 29, 2012
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