Southend Half MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (405 votes). 2011 race reviewed by: Judy Grocott
 | | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Great event for both novice and those looking for a PB
In full: Well done to the organisers, great volunteers and marshals, Sponges and water stations great. All for charity as well so great to feel your doing your bit
Date of review: June 13, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: 1e-runner
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Very quick course, decent value.
In full: PB heaven if that's what you are after. Didn't experience too much of a delay, getting in or out considering there were over 1000 runners. Plenty of drink stations and the sponges were a nice touch.
Pleased with a 1.29 dead PB.
Two negatives would be having to sign up for the Havens website AND Paypal to enter; the entry pack had absolutely no info on where the start was, leading to a rushed logon to good old runners world prior to leaving the house.
Date of review: June 13, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Blistering Barnacles
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: A good PB course
In full: First off anyone still looking for the results? They're not on the organisers website so far as i could find but found them here: http://www.thepowerof10.info/results/results.aspx?meetingid=52826&pagenum=1
A quick course, great PB potential. The route is a little dull, up and down the seafront twice. Good water/sponge stations - frequent, well stocked, nice people. Not enough toilets at start, not much in the way of stands or freebies at the end. Nice medal. Great loction of start 100m from train station makes this very convenient. For me this is a race to do for the fast times possible but for not much else. got round in 1:32.
Date of review: June 13, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Geewok
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Great PB potential if the weather holds out.
In full: Very flat course, and quick if its not a windy day. The laps and the scenary aren't the most inspiring but the organisation was excellent and the supporters were great. A great PB course.
Date of review: June 13, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Dean Gilles
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Well organised race
In full: Well marshalled with plenty of water stations all of which were well staffed.
The weather was perfect for a good run although perhaps it contributed to the fairly small number of people cheering the runners on.
I agree with the other comments that doing two laps was not terribly exciting. I would have much preferred if we could have run another two miles or so down the front into Southend and turned there so that we only did one lap, but I presume this would have made the logistics more difficult.
The runners all seemed to be in good spirits and the flat course made for a pleasant change from the normal hilly courses.
Getting out of the car park was a bit of a pain, but it was free and right next to the start so no complaints there and the police did a great job getting us through the crossings and on our way back to the A127 as quickly as possible.
I would definitely do this race again.
Date of review: June 13, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Sarah Sazz
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Repetitive
In full: Wasn't aiming for a time but had I been, then the number of people and the tight course in places made it hard to get past people. Great marshalls. It was terrible getting out of the car park at the end but great that there was so much free parking avaialble. As someone else mentioned, a banana or cereal bar at the end would have been really welcomed!
Date of review: June 12, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Auntie Dude
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: A good morning
In full: This was my first southend half marathon (but 6th overall). Apart from the lousy weather it was a good run although running up and down the seafront 4 times (over two laps) was a bit boring.
Anyway I knocked 9 minutes 7 secs of my PB so job done for this year!
Date of review: June 12, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: stephen Harwood
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
Date of review: June 12, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: MrMo
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Too many runners for such a tight and narrow course, but I'll be back next year for a go at my PB
In full: This isn't a bad race, but I can't help but feel that the organisers have been a bit greedy with the number of participants.
There are so many bottlenecks and narrow parts of the course (where you are running in one lane on the road, trying to avoid runners coming the opposite direction), that the sheer number of mid-pack runners who tend to run two or three abreast, makes it quick difficult to make progress.
Fast course though, if you can get near the front.
Final point - the entry system went a bit crazy this year. I entered via the Havens Hospices web site, where the payment is managed by PayPal and they didn't receive my entry despite taking my money. The team at Havens Hospices were superb in sorting this out for me though, both via the phone and then on the day.
Date of review: June 12, 2011
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2011 race reviewed by: Lianne Drake
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Half Marathon First Timer
In full: Great for my first half marathon as Im local to the area and so is the charity that the event was hosted in aid of.
Date of review: June 12, 2011
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