Darent Valley 10k  Here's how RW members rated this race (220 votes). 2012 race reviewed by: Stephen Poole
 | | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: Lovely Scenic Course
In full: Very well organised race with great scenery, managed a PB even with the hills. The only bad thing to comment was the very poor quality medal, the worst in my collection !
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
|
2012 race reviewed by: Henstooth
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Kent countryside in glorious technicolour - the course grabs ya by the arse and eyes
In full: Such a great event. Love the early start (especially as I had just come off nights (again)). Great parking facilities. Short walk to event. Good venue for registration, chip collection, storage and warm up. Thanks to the school for this. Seemed to me there were loads more runners this year, and testiment to the good organisation and fantastic scenic route. Great marshals, patient car drivers. The course is mainly road work but there is a glorious off road section and a great fast finish. Good directions and fantastic support on the route. Shame about medal quality but the "local picture" touch is unique. I got a PB for the course BUT it's not a course for an overall PB. The hills are challenging and "bite ya". I do love this local event and will do it year on year. Thanks Swanley.
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2012 race reviewed by: John Cooper 13
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 20% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: very scenic, well organised. disappointed with the quality of the race memento taking into consideration the high cost to enter for a 10k race.
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2012 race reviewed by: Bozzer
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Excellent race
In full: This was a great 10k, the whole thing was very well organised and a lovely scenic route, the only thing which was less than impressive was the medal but the event was excellent overall.
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2012 race reviewed by: waggytail
| | 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: Scenic 10k
In full: This is the sixth time I have completed this race. There are a number of hills but the views make up for this. The last few kilometres are downhill. I like the early start which means the race does not take up your whole day. Would recommend for those that fancy a challenge. Medal not as good as previous years but still unique.
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2012 race reviewed by: Emma Penfold
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Well organised from start to finish
In full: A lovely local 10K run complete with a few undulations and a wicked 2 mile downhill to the finish. It was well organised from start to finish with encouragement from the marshalls to push you up the hills. Well done Swanley!!!!
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2012 race reviewed by: Leighton Williams.
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Well Organised, Very Friendly, Very Scenic, Slightly Challenging
In full: I travelled from Essex for this race having decided to enter on Saturday afternoon, and arrived at the car park at 7.50 for the 8.30 start.
There is plenty of parking available in the field which was well marshalled.
I then went to collect my race number and timing chip, and this was well organised, meaning it took no more than 90 seconds to do this.
There was plenty of room at the school to get a good warm-up in around the playing field. There were toilets in the school, and there were also a number of porta loos available outside, so while there were queues for the toilets they were minimal compared to other races.
There was plenty of room for the massed start, and useful markers advising people where to start from depending on predicted time. One slight down side here was that those of us near the back could not hear the starter, so perhaps a PA system of some sort for future years?
The course is definitely undulating. There were three climbs to be undertaken, and two of these reduced a number of runners to walking.
There were plenty of flat sections to get a good pace up, and the last 3 km was mainly downhill so you could really get your speed up for a fast finish if the last climb had not finished you off.
Access to the finish line was good, and there was plenty of help at the finish to remove the timing chips, and to hand out medals.
The course was very scenic going through some very nice villages, and beautiful countryside. With the pleasant weather, this made for a very enjoyable run.
Overall this was a very enjoyable event, that I will definitely do again. But I would not say that this is a PB course due to the hills. If you are looking for a quick time, get some hill sessions in in your training, otherwise just look to enjoy the course and the challenge.
Date of review: April 15, 2012
|
2011 race reviewed by: JamesMBW
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: friendly, beatiful, undulating course
Date of review: May 1, 2011
|
2011 race reviewed by: David Reid 12
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Must be one of the most picturesque and interesting 10Ks in the South east
In full: Interesting course - only flat section (as I remember it) was a short stretch next to the Darent River, but apart from a difficult (but not treacherous) hill at 6k, it was manageable. Road closure at the start was very useful - would have been nice to have had a partial road closure for the last 2kms as well, when the course went back on to the A225. Nice medal at the end. Marshalls friendly and helpful. Definitely worth it. Thank you.
Date of review: April 21, 2011
|
2011 race reviewed by: elizabeth Horsley
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: The best for scenery
In full: Great that it is an early start; beautiful course - friendly and frequent marshals. Chips this year was a great addition. Not to be missed.
Date of review: April 15, 2011
|
| |
denotes Subscriber-only content | 
