Tunbridge Wells Half MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (672 votes). 2011 race reviewed by: Gribb0
 | | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Fantastic race
In full: Love this race and can't fault the organization. Loads of support on course, great t shirt and generous goody bag. Great to see Liz Yelling and Dame Kelly Holmes. I even got a PB - fantastic
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Longhope
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In full: A cool and sunnt morning in RTW, set for a great race. Fab organisation and marshalling, thank you very much.
Wonderful conditions and I was keeping up 7'30" pace for the first 6 miles. Sadly I never bettered 8'30" after the two lovely big hills between 6 and 8 miles.
Great work by Dame Kelly Holmes waiting to help give out medals at the end, a very nice touch. For me it's just great to be back having suffered with an achilles problem and not raced at all since August last year. In all the circumstances very happy with 1'47".
Well done everybody in RTW.
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: David Hale from Ormskirk
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Wow. Incredible, near perfection!
In full: Thank you to TW Harriers, the huge number of marshals, water station staff, the ambulance people, the police, all of T Wells and all the participants for making this the best half marathon I've ever run and could ever wish to run.
Oh, and the weather which was also perfect.
This half marathon has EVERYTHING - chip timing, loads of drinks stations, pace runners, several elite entrants, fast downhill sections, a killer one mile hill, three drum bands (including one that started at the start and must have legged it to mile 9), paper cups, even a gel station and, best of all, Dame Kelly Holmes.
DKH was there for photos in the sports hall before the race, at the start to sound the hooter and at the finish to hand out all the medals.
This was my 3rd run at this event so the course is kind of familiar now. The first couple of miles is more uphill than down before 3+ miles of alternating flat and fast downhills into Penshurst. There was a marshal outside the door of the Leicester Arms, the pub in Penshurst, maybe to deter runners from popping in for a quick drink.
But there was no need for that as there were plenty of water stations along the way - 5, maybe 6 - I lost count!
If you're aiming for a time target then you need to throw away any concept of negative splits because the half way point signals the start of the longest uphill section on the course. Star Hill extends for about a mile up to the picturesque village of Fordcombe - it's perfectly do-able with the steeper sections of the slope itself offset by much shallower slopes. And through the village at the top, the support is vocal and encouraging. Just then other side of Fordcombe was the GU gel station, though I'd already had my gel so passed on that one.
The final 5 miles of the course are pretty flat along the A264 through Langton Green spurring off for a half mile loop through residential streets with the householders cheering on the runners.
The route returns to T Wells town alongside the common before holding a level elevation along the ridge, passing in front of The Spa Hotel then hitting the A26 St John's Road for a fast finish.
Many of the roads are major routes but the police close them off in one direction, in some cases both so the left side of the road is technically traffic free.
For the first time I've seen at a half marathon, there are pace runners for target times from 01:30 to 02:10 in 10 minute increments. I was aiming to attach myself to one of the pacing groups but lost the pace runner at the start. I guessed I was ahead of him at one stage but I never saw him pass me so he must have been ahead all the way! As it was, I'd have struggled to keep in touch anyway.
The goody bag was well stocked with water and food items including a welcome banana. I thought better than to read the race instructions booklet so managed to miss collecting a technical t-shirt. Assuming it's like previous years, it'll be a welcome gift and useful for training and races.
T Wells is my PB and PW course and now I have a "personal middle" time.
Unsurprisingly, given the massive attention to detail and supreme organisation, this race is selling out quickly every year. To push it even higher up the RW tables, vote YES to Would you do it again?
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Running5k
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: It's what running shoes were made for.
In full: Brilliant morning run. Superb marshals and local support, a mini carnival in Kent. Rolling, undulating course rather than anything too aggressive. Plenty of water and gel stations. Still unpacking all the giveaways in the goody bag, a lovely medal and a T-Shirt which you could collect before the start to ensure sizing.
Well done TWH.
PS IF Liz Yelling has no use for those Newton Shoes I know someone who does:)
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Aileen Sellers
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Superb well organised race
In full: A fantastic race. Hilly but enough downs to counter the ups, even the massive one at mile at 7!
Organisation was brilliant, I have never seen so many marshalls, thanks to all of them for giving up their Sunday morning. The car parks ran like clockwork and no delays getting in or out. I could have done with a bank of porta loos somewhere on the course but understand this is probably a nightmare to organise. The loos at start were plentiful and the queue moved fast.
Technical T-shirt is great and makes the race much better value.
The icing on the cake though has to be Kelly Holmes giving out the medals, really made me feel fab!
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: mava
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Excellent race once again
In full: Smoothly organised race. Great marshalls and other volunteers. One of the best goody bags I've had from a race. But please next year ban headphones. I saw multiple people who were unable to hear marshalls' instructions getting right in the way.
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: HammersFan
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Fantastic race that gets better year after year!
In full: Superb race started once again by Dame Kelly Holmes who was also good enough to stick around at the end to hand out medals - nice touch.
The race is getting bigger and better each year - nice to see so many road closures in force with fantastic support from the police and marshalls. How you manage to close a fair part of T Wells is beyond me but well done.
Could do with a few more loos - the queue was about 200 meters long but at least there was a marshall there checking doors to make sure the empty ones are used.
Great weather today as well and nice goody bag and T-Shirt.
Only bad thing - I couldn't keep up with Liz Yelling much beyond the first 200 yards!
Thanks again Tunbridge Wells Harriers for a great race.
Date of review: February 27, 2011
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2010 race reviewed by: Lisa Reid 2
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: wet but worth it
In full: really nice atmosphere, lots of support from people, marshals and drummers all the way round. The rain didnt spoil it. Kelly Holmes was lovely and supportive, she seemed to have time to chat with everyone. Not the flattest of races but half-marathons dont get much better than this. Always nice to be able to receive a shirt at the end and add it to the collection.
Date of review: April 4, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Tizzer B
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Incredibly well organised half marathon with great scenery.
Date of review: March 17, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Salwal
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Very wet but loved every minutes even the six inch deep puddles
In full: A very challenging hill but fantastic support from the marshalls and local people all the way round. My best ever time for a half marathon, not sure how I did that. Really lovely to be welcomed over the line by Kelly Holmes, she was just as wet as the rest of us. A wonderful event and yes I will be back.
Date of review: March 13, 2010
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