Events

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

In short: A nice little starter for the New Year. Shame it was less than the 6 miles advertised as I didnt realsie until I was at the finish.
Date of review: January 3, 2011

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		40%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		40%

In short: Icy dangerous conditions. Poor mile markers. Loved it!
In full: Although it was very icy I thought it was OK to run as long as you knew what lay ahead. Unfortunately most people were unable to hear what the marshal was saying at the start and I think this was a serious error. No excuse for inaccurate mile markers though. Having said all that I thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Date of review: January 4, 2010

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

In short: Left waiting for 10 minutes for the start, icy and dangerous underfoot and then poor marshalling lead to leaders going off course.
In full: The conditions were so icy it was dubious as to whether this event was safe to run. Ice around the course made it a skating rink in places. This was particularly bad on a downhill section where I took a tumble dispite being at a virtual stand still. The absence of a marshall at a particular junction lead to the leaders going off course. After that it was just a matter of finishing rather than a time. It has great potential but this event should most probably have been cancelled as there was a real risk of people getting injured.
Date of review: January 4, 2010

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Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Would have been better with crampons or ice skates!
In full: Agree pretty much with the previous posters. Accepting that the current weather was always going to make this difficult, I was actually surprised that it went ahead at all. The state of the sheet-iced car park at the event was foreboding, and the actual course not much better. Absolutely treacherous, and I'm surprised that no-one was seriously hurt (or were they?) Route definitely not 10k - I bettered my time from last years event, even though that was held in superior conditions! The aforementioned 'death slide' hill was tackled by most on their backsides and I saw a number of people fall over. If a kids event was indeed held, then the organisers should be ashamed - the conditions were not suitable at all. Could it not have been deferred? Pleasurable only in a sadistic kind of way I'm afraid.
Date of review: January 4, 2010

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:

In short: Frustrating organisation and dangerous in parts
In full: My GPS recorded 8.57k - what's going on? I heard rumours of a sign going missing for whatever reason, but this wasn't an amateur event, costing £12 to enter, and I expected better.

In addition the start was poor as no-one mid-pack and back from there heard it, so just responded to the rush from the front.

There was a section early on where everyone had to stop, queue, and then slither down a particularly icy section on their backsides - seriously disrupting any rhythm you had just built up.

Overall a dissapointing experience which is a shame as the forest is a lovely place to run.
Date of review: January 4, 2010

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		20%
Value		20%
Beginner-friendliness		20%

In short: would do it again if organisation and safety was improved!!
In full: This run could potentially be fantastic, however it was extremely disappointing. Due to present weather conditions, it was trecherous, and dangerous in parts. many runners were falling over and I myself have been injured as a result of the steep slippery hill we had to run down (This should have been taken out of the route due to the weather.)

Some marshalls were very unhelpful, and were not there to guide the front runners who had been sent the wrong way due to incorrect route markings. This meant that front runners had to run over a mile further, consequentially not finishing justifiably within their PB times.

The start and finish line was unacceptable and extremely spectator unfriendly! I am not sure where all of the money went for this race as I have competed in many other races paying similar prices but have never ran in one that was so badly organised.

The Junior run was also disorganised. Due to the age of some of the children, i question whether this race should have taken place at all. Children were slipping over, and manmy hurting themselves.

I am deeply disappointed overall.
Date of review: January 3, 2010

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		60%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Refreshing!
In full: Good atmosphere and nice course, very cold! Start was delayed but we were kept informed, so ok. Very icy all the way round but quite enjoyed the challenge of picking a good path, even when tht involved sliding on our bums! Some of the mile markers seemed way of for some reason - perhaps due to re-routing due to the weather. Overall very enjoyable and a great way to start the year
Date of review: January 3, 2010

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Ice on significant portion of the course made it treacorous and slow. Distance not accurate appears to have been 5.3 miles.
Date of review: January 3, 2010

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: A bit pricey and a bit dis-organised, but has the potential to be a really good race.
In full: I agree with carrot top on the whole. I did hear the briefing OK but not the start. Apparently someone moved the offending sign which sent us all down the wrong path, but the closest marshal wasnt much help. Having said that I quite enjoyed this and looked on the ice as a challenge. Also on the plus side I won a prize because very few people stayed to pick up their prizes.
Date of review: January 3, 2010

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		40%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: A great way to start the year......
In full: OK, there were a few problems surrouding the distance, the slippiness and the delayed start but I really like this race. I dont even mind being sent the wrong way and having to double back - I got to overtake all the slower runners again!

One significant complaint though, the 2 portaloos were appalling - think open sewer. lets start from the visitor centre next year?
Date of review: January 3, 2010

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