Events

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

In short: Great British Summer 1 - New Forest Runners 0
In full: There was ample parking at the start, in fact I had a ten acre field to myself enabling me to park right next to where I thought the start line might have been. The queues for the porta-loos were pleasingly short and the loos themselves nicely unsoiled and unstinky - I could get to like this kind of race. The start area was surprisingly quiet and uncrowded, with a complete absence of announcers, supporters, timing mats or indeed other runners. Still this enabled me to line up right at the front without any of those bothersome "competitors". My garmin was a solitary beep in the rural silence....
I set off at 1115 and I led from the start a position I was able to hold without undue effort all the way round. Unlike previous years the course wasn't very well marked, I had to make it up as I went, and unlike last year there were surprisingly few marshals or words of encouragement. The drinks stations were, well, infrequent to the point of non-existent but one musn't complain. It was kinda quiet out there churning out those ten miles, just a few ponies and walkers and when I did see other runners they didn't have their race number on - I assume they were later disqualified.
The ten miles passed reasonably quickly if a little soggily. In previous years the runners have been greeted at the finish line by the announcer shouting ones name and home town over the tannoy with words of encouragement. It was a little quieter this year though a cow did moo and a walker did shout "pillock" at me.
I cruised to an easy victory, my first in twenty years of running. HOWEVER I was greatly saddened not to receive the "Overall First Male Trophy" nor the "Category M40" trophy as promised on the web site. Come on New Forest Runners give me the 2012 trophies! What kind of idiot do you take me for? (Actually, the kind of idiot who'd make a 100 mile round trip without first checking the race was on first......come on it is summer and we still have a hosepipe ban!!)

Oh well see you next year...

Date of review: July 8, 2012

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