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

In short: Great spring marathon warm-up and plenty of restaurants for a well deserved hearty breakfast!
Date of review: September 17, 2009

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

In short: Local race
In full: I live very locally now and it's the second time I've done the 8.2 mile race. The race is flat and fast.

The organisation is very good but it should be for the price of the race. The race price is very steep.

There are other local races which use some of the same routes that have managed to keep their costs down. If the main costs are due to the location then maybe the organisers need to move it slightly so it doesn't include the town centre.

I suspect some people also had trouble getting to the race as unfortunately when the race was organised the organisers would not have know that South West Trains would have decided to do engineering works.
Date of review: July 23, 2009

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Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		60%
Value		20%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Not terrible - but disappointing, and bad value for money
In full: Maybe it's because I'm local to the area, but I thought the whole thing was a bit of a rip-off. There are much nicer routes you can take round the area than the one chosen for the course. Marshalling was sparse, despite the high entry price, and the mug at the end was a bit rubbish. The course is nice and flat though.
Date of review: June 5, 2009

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

In short: Nice course, too expensive
In full: Entry fee is high considering water is given in cups and there is a mug at the end. Course is nice and flat. Not too many spectators. A good prep run for the london marathon. Car park was a nightmare to get into.
Date of review: April 30, 2009

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

In short: a good way to spend sunday morning
Date of review: April 27, 2009

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

In full: I'm not sure I like races that split the start for the men and women. The women only event inevitably saw gaggles of gossiping women blocking the route for those behind them during the first mile or so. Men help to brake up this tendency I find.
In parts because of the course you tend to run in single file along pavement with the risk of being hit by cars coming behind you if you try to overtake. As long as you remember this and look behind you you're fine though.
The first part along the river path next to Hampton Court is lovely and the support in some of the villages along the way and in Kingston itself is very very good.
And the bonus? Because it starts so early you're finished and home and showered in time for an early lunch!!!
Date of review: April 27, 2009

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

In short: Perfect pre-London blast
In full: Perfect distance and perfect timing for a final fast long run before tapering for the London marathon. I have completed this race 7 or 8 times over the years and everything has always gone like clockwork. This year however, I got caught up in the toilet queue and missed the start of the main 16m race. This meant starting with the girls which was fine but it made for heavy 'traffic' from about 3 miles onwards. This was only a real problem when encountering runners (or more accurately walkers) 3 or 4 abreast along the Portsmouth Road. It meant running out into the road already occupied by slower 8 milers and 16 milers from the 8.30 start. I appreciate that the pre-race info said to allow plenty of time for parking, toilets and bag drop; for me this will mean getting to Kingston 20 minutes earlier than I have needed to in the past.
As a race organiser myself a particular bug-bear is runners who wear ipods etc; how can they expect to hear marshalls instructions when crossing road junctions? They all seem to be in their own little world and rarely check behind them when changing direction. The ipodders really seem to be out in force in the Breakfast Run.
I think that race numbers are now at their optimum and any further increases would put an inproportionate strain on the organisation and the safety of runners. I do like this race though and hope to be back again next year.
Date of review: April 16, 2009

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

In short: It's a rip of price wise, cheap mug is the only momento, could easily give a decent medal as well, but hey ho. Apart from that its a good day out, always seems to have nice weather when I do it too!
Date of review: April 8, 2009

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

In short: Lovely race, most people gearing up for the marathon.
In full: Really flat race, good drinks stations, lovely atmosphere. Really good pre-marathon (I'm heading for Edinburgh) everyone was comparing training highs and lows.
Date of review: April 8, 2009

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

In short: Good Event and early enough not to spoil a whole day
In full: Really enjoyed the race. Frustrated with runners with their MP3 players not worrying about runners trying to pass, but that was my only gripe. Good start and end, nice scenery along the river and reasonable support. Lots of drink stations and friendly marshalls. Overall would do this again and being as flat as a proverbial pancake I manged to knock 18 mins off my PB!
Date of review: April 8, 2009

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