Brighton Marathon 2012Here's how RW members rated this race in the past (121 votes). 2012 race reviewed by: MrG_66
 | | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: First marathon, finished under 4 hrs, the crowd was excellent.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: adam arthurs
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: amazing day amazing crowd
In full: my first marathon and amazing time of 3:48:45 in just over 2000 place out of 9000 so amamzed , but course great , reasonably flat just easy uphills which did not worry at all , drinks and powerade stations every couple miles inc jelly like squares and cift bars think called , but what an experience whole day was
well done to brighton
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: DANIEL Marshall 6
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: My first Marathin - Not my last!
In full: This was my first ever Marathon and i truly enjoyed it, well except for mile 20 - 21 when i thought i would never finish. In short i loved it and even though i ache as i have never ached before i would and will definately run it again. Weather was perfect and crowds were fantastic and really made me keep going. I finished in 3.37 which is good formy first time and will be trying to beat it next time. I did find the water puches a bit hit and miss whether they opened properly or sprayed me and anyone nearby but other than that everything else was great and really well organised from kit drop off to pick up.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Toucs
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: A good marathon for first timers
In full: Third year in a row of doing this event. Organisers and main sponsors, Saucony, have put on a very good big marathon. Crowds were out in force again this year, I thought more than the last two years. Start and finish appeared to go like clockwork. The water stations were excellent. Not sure about the new water containers. I had one or two where I couldn't open the top, when squeezed the water came shooting out of the side to soak another runner or someone in the crowd. When they worked, they worked well. Only thing I saw that would annoy me would be the queues for the toilets around mile 6 - 7, it appeared the queues were extending back into the runners so less room for them to run in where the road was not that wide to begin with. If they were to get the full 18,000 runners who entered, running then this would become a huge issue. Overall a really good day out. Hopefully I'll be back next year.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: englandlynda
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: My first marathon - and definitely not my last
In full: I couldn't have wished for a better marathon than Brighton to be my first. Varied scenery, excellent support (particularly along miles 12-14 and 24 onwards). Undulating course from miles 7 - 9 meant all the hill training paid off. It is well organised, although could benefit from more toilets en route. I was lucky, I only had to wait 4 minutes, but I know of others who had to wait close to 15 minutes. Plenty of water stops. A suitably heavy medal plus t-shirt in small, medium and large which I will be proud to wear. The only downside was the 22 mile marker was actually at mile 20.5 - I think it should have been on the other side of the road for the runners who were completing the 'road to hell' loop. But overall, a well organised and friendly marathon - I have already pre-registered for next year.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Arctic Fox
| | 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: Great race - well organised and with excellent support
In full: A very well organised city race with great support from the crowds.
Bag drop worked very well.
Could have been more toilets at the start - are there ever enough?
The coral system worked well and I enjoyed seeing the elite runners as they headed off into town - often, as a back of the pack runner, you never get to see these spectacular runners.
The race itself was a mixture of scenic and hard-going.
The first half was great - the run out to Ovingdean Valley was undulating and the climb up the valley itself was no where near as hilly as I expected. The second half if harder, for obvious reasons but also the route is trickier. The stretch along Hove high street and back again was REALLY long and wore me down. I was actually better prepared mentally for the Power Station section, though those speed bumps weren't helpful (I tripped). The last few miles felt like a slog but the crowd support was great.
Aid stations - great support. Loved the Clif Bloks. Am undecided on the water pouches - sometimes they worked really well but othertimes I couldn't get any water out. In the last few miles I didn't have the energy to fight with them. They are rather a surprise if someone steps on a full one as they explode water everywhere. Poweraid stations were good... though I was having to force it down towards the end.
All in all, a great event. Friendly and supportive with a good medal and a reasonable goodie bag and t-shirt. Liked the space blanket at the end - the steward helped me get wrapped up cos I was incapable.
Repatriation - I regretted meeting under letter L - couldn't find it and neither could my family. We did in the end, but it needed to be a bit more obvious!
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Flying Pig
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Really good support and nice to run by the sea
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Trevor Burningham
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Good, but not as good as previous years.
In full: Had a fantastic race and 30 mins off my PB. Organisation was not as good as before. Very few stevards to stop reople running across the street between 12-14m.
Atmosphere fantastic as usual, power station depressing as usual. Why was there no entertainment there this year (unless I missed it). Stage at the end of Hove stretch was sadly missing too.
Not too delighted with the water either. Not sure those pouches are a great idea. I could only get half the water out and after 4 hours the water started to taste a bit funny.
Will definitely do it again though. Ive done all three so far but last year was much better. More loos, more entertainment (and better weather, but can't blame anyone for that!!!).
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Plissken
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Impressive event.
In full: This was a really well-organised marathon. I liked the way that different sections of the course had different characters - even though the power station section is a bit dull. For me, the worst bit was the camber in the road from about 6-11 miles, but no big issue.
I think the Brighton Marathon is still coming of age, and so hopefully will get even better. In my opinion, it is already better than the Edinburgh marathon.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Ross Richardson 3
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Fantastic support, well done Brighton
In full: First and foremost I have to say what great support this race got. The crowds were phenomenal along the waterfront on the three passes the Marathon takes. The last stretch of two miles or so was superb.
The course from my perspective, organisation was excellent with frequest water stations with clever water pouches rather than bottles flying everywhere. Some vocally supportive bods handing them out, thanks so much. Energy crinks, gels in abundance, sweeties etc. The coast road was fantastic, wide and easy to run abetted by some lovely weather (perfect for running). Good course with a few ascents to test the will, nothing crazy and quite a fast course (my second faster Marathon time).
At the end, a nice medal, t-shirt, fruit and goodie bag plus a kindly steward wrapping you up in a space blanket. Excellent.
Now the constructive criticism:
There were some London Marathon level queues for the toilets and not so many on course, as a bloke I could nip off into a hedge but not so lucky for others. More bogs please!
The loop out round the power station is ugly, smelly and unpleasant. Running through a factory yard is plain peculiar especially after 20 odd miles of coastal air. I liked the rest of the course (even drab Hove)but it would be excellent if there was an alternative to the power station bit.
Mile markers out a bit, but that could be garmin / zig-zagging. I had 26.45 on my garmin at the end.
Date of review: April 16, 2012
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