Events

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		20%

In short: After Feels amazing ....
In full: Having read the other reviews .... well yes it was pricey £170 for two days, but you got to run (or scramble on hands and knees at one point on day two!) through amazing scenery with great support from marshals (although it would have been nice if they could have accurately told you distance covered so far) great support and welcome over the finishing line.
what real made it special was the support from fellow runners - great race a true achievement to complete in one piece!
Date of review: June 26, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Not just any run, but hardest thing I have ever done.
In full: Anyone that entered the event must have been committed, as the price was somewhat on the high side (£170 Early Bird).
The communication from the start was very good, with an excellent event web page.
The organisation of the event itself was very good, and there were no problems regarding the route, as it was very well marshalled and marked. However it may be an idea to give each runner a route booklet at registration to allow them to follow on the hoof.
I won't say much about the route, it was Hadrian's wall country and therefore hilly but scenic, the real difficulty with this run was the sheer distance.
The overnight stop for relay and challengers was spot on, but a better meal option than soup and rolls (Remember the Price) a pot of pasta would have gone down a treat.
Pit stops had everything that was needed, but should have had better, and identifiable camelback filling points. Too many runners filling up from the juice area, stopping anyone else getting a drink.
Now for the finish, which is where a lot of events let themselves down. I would say 8 out of 10, everything was there and easy to get to, but after 69 mile it would have been nice for someone to put the medal round my neck, and although I am not a medal grabber, the medal for this event does not reflect the enormity of what was achieved or the entry fee, very very poor quality.
But overall I am pleased I did this, the organisation was spot on, and would I do it again? Good God NO, but that's because I do not want to put myself through that again ever, but would I recommend it yes, its an experience.
Date of review: June 25, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		20%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Ups and downs...
In full: For a long time after putting in my entry to this race I thought to myself 'how the hell can they justify charging £150 for a single day point to point race?' I'm still not sure I know. Maybe I got caught up by the 'you've had 2000 years to train' blurb...

There's no accounting for the weather, which was shocking. Supposedly some last minute changes were made to the route but that didn't stop everyone being up to their ankles in water within 15 minutes. Still, it's supposed to be a challenge.

On balance I did enjoy this race. There was some great scenery in the middle part and the finish in Newcastle made all the toil worthwhile.

Plus points:
Scenery (some of it), finish, pit stops (packet sandwiches - get in!), route marking (fair play for doing all 69 miles).

Bad points:
First stage (dire - 15 miles of dull road running (and I like road running!)), no route map (made it hard to gauge progress), marshalls at checkpoints/pit stops were not properly briefed on distances (again, making it hard to gauge progress), registration the night before (why? Cost me a night's accommodation in Carlisle and for what?), entry fee (organisation was good, pit stops were good, finish was good, but for £150, really? I can do a multi-day with food and accommodation for less than that). Oh, and I'm sure those who entered as 'challengers' enjoyed paying an extra £50 and then being given 'free camping'. Come to think of it, bag transfer was 'free' too, so where did all my money go? Could have hired a limo for my bag for less than that...

Anyway, I nailed the distance so on balance I'm happy. However, anyone wanting to run Hadrian's Wall would be better off just doing the second leg (about 17 miles) off their own back and leaving the rest of it. But then again there was something about seeing those bridges after 13 hours...


Date of review: June 25, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		60%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Good race but feel a bit ripped off
In full: Generally a very good race with some nice touches like the feed stations , finish line and bag drops. A couple of niggles though
Rubbish medals that don't even distinguish whether you did the 1 day or 2 day event
Long stretches in the gutter on a roads were dangerous
No marshals apart from at checkpoints. Kids enjoy moving arrows!
Goodie bags too full of expensive printed tourist literature rather than stuff to help runners
Hardly saw hadrians wall- incredibly disappointing the route had long sections of road

All in all slightly underwhelmed that £150 didn't buy better service and rewards. In your first year running a race, with such high entry fees, surely you give entrants such a feel good feeling they tell all their mates ?
Date of review: June 24, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator