Events

Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:

In full: Only managed 400m or so before i was tripped up! Ended up in mk hospital with a dislocated shoulder and displaced fracture of my humerus. Marshal and St John's ambulance guys were a credit.

The start however was chaos. Terrible idea to start the 10km so soon before the half marathon, lead to panic and lots of weaving in and out of runners. I have entered many events of this distance and not encountered a start like this before. Any event of this size should really have a method of segregating the start into runners of equal speed. Hopefully lessons from this year will be learned so that accidents like this can't happen.
Date of review: March 8, 2010

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

In short: Absolutely dreadful
In full: Yes, absolutely dreadful!

Ok, so the chip timing was excellent; the results were prompty posted on the web and the mile markers were clear enough.

But with over 3,500 customers paying well over £50,000 to take part and sponsorship from Nike as well, someone's made an absolute fortune here. Because the race budget certainly wasn't used:

1 - to provide enough signs telling people where to park;

2 - to provide enough signs telling people (a) where to leave their bags and (b) that someone would probably have a good rummage through them while we were out running;

3 - to provide any time zone signs to tell people where to line up at the start, or a starting hooter for the poor guy on the PA;

4 - to provide a marshal at every point on the course where the paths of runners and traffic might (and did!) collide;

5 - to provide anywhere near enough staff at the water stations and signs telling us that a water station was ahead;

6 - to provide anywhere near enough staff at the finish to hand out the drinks and the medals;

7 - to provide signs helping folk find their way back to the baggage store;

8 - to provide any sort of traffic management on the way out.

When you do a "big city" race you expect it to be crisply organised and efficiently delivered. Arrangements akin to those made by a scout group for a small-time 10k from the local village hall with a few hundred runners just don't pass muster when the field gets bigger. The race director shouldn't simply do the best he can with the volunteers who turn up - all bases need to be covered.

If this had been a meal in a restaurant I wouldn't have paid.

But then perhaps I should have realised beforehand that it would all be a bit amateurish, as the 12 stage road relay always underwhelms as an event when it's held at the Open University and that's organised by the same crew I think.

And what are Nike doing, allowing a dog's dinner like this to carry their name?

I won't be back ...
Date of review: March 9, 2009

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: great race. well organised and quality t-shirt
In full: well worth turning up for.
Date of review: December 31, 2008

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		100%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Half marathon on home turf with great PB potential!
Date of review: April 29, 2008

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: My first race!! I enjoyed and it makes me want to run more. Look forward to doing it again next year.
Date of review: April 14, 2008

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Scenery OK, although did get slightly bored after 8 or so miles
Date of review: April 5, 2008

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		60%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: My first Half Mrathon to kick start my 100K challenge for the year, will definitely do again next year.
Date of review: March 23, 2008

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		100%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: great race
In full: great race
Date of review: March 20, 2008

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		60%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Not as flat as you think
In full: No real problems well marshalled and good drinks stations. Some form of starting time pens might help, too many slow runners near the front. Other than those minor gripes an enjoyable day.
Date of review: March 17, 2008

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		100%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Good race
In full: Well organised race and the free sports drink on the route was a nice touch especially with the wind and heat. I thought the medal was great, who needs a goodie bag ??? Will def do again, next time hopefully run it without a dodgy calf, overall well worth travelling down from Wales
Date of review: March 9, 2008

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