Events

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

In short: Cold, wet, muddy, bit disorganised at start - should be great with better weather
Date of review: November 5, 2012

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

In short: Let down by delayed start
In full: Like one of the other reviewers, I have mixed feelings about this one.

The weather was absolutely atrocious, which isn't the fault of the organisers, obviously! However, the registration area was nowhere near the start line and it was all a bit vague about where you had to go...as a consequence so many people failed to get to the start line in time the race was delayed by 20 minutes. On a sunny day this wouldn't have been a problem but it meant we were freezing cold and wet through before we'd even set off. I don't know why they didn't start ushering people over well ahead of the start time.

It wasn't the sort of route where spectators would go and stand, but there were plenty of marshals along the way. However, I didn't feel they gave much encouragement. It must be miserable standing in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere for two hours, so a bit of clapping and cheering might have kept them warm and kept their spirits up too!
Date of review: November 5, 2012

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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		100%

In short: Great organisation, shame about the weather
In full: Filthy weather but well organised, friendly event and great marshalling. Congestion along the guided busway was fine. It was unfortunate that the torrential rain had turned the off-road section into a bit of a quagmire but it wasn't too horrendous for running on. Would definitely enter next year.
Date of review: November 5, 2012

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

In short: Cold, wet and muddy!
In full: Not the best day for a 10K, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The race started late, but probably due to the long queues for race numbers.
This was my first multi terrain race and the off track run slowed me down, so unfortunately didn't get a PB. My poor trainers had to be condemned!
The marshalls were fantastic! Overall it was good fun race and will be good training for half and full marathons. Would do again
Date of review: November 4, 2012

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

In short: Chilly, wet & muddy with fantastic marshals
In full: Slightly mixed feelings about this race, which I think is mainly down to the weather (obviously not the organiser's fault!) as it was cold and pouring with rain. The course was good - a mixture of tarmac path and off road which kept it interesting. It was also flat and very straight in places so good PB potential. The marshals were fantastic - there were loads of them and they were very cheery and supportive (I particularly appreciated the guy singing Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer at the 5K mark). However, certain aspects of the organisation let the race down a little bit - not every runner (me included) realised that they needed to know their number to collect it (rather than just giving their name) which led to delays in everyone collecting their numbers. This meant that there was a long queue, in the rain, for everyone. The race start was delayed by about 15 minutes which again meant waiting in the pouring rain and there were a lot of very cold runners before we got started. Had it been a sunny day then these admin hiccups wouldn't have been an issue, but it did matter today so I thought it was worth mentioning. Overall, I think I will be back but I'm hoping for better weather next year!
Date of review: November 4, 2012

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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		100%

In short: Enjoyed the course and the atmosphere was great, Good for all levels of runner and nice to get a medal and a banana. Good value for a race these days.
Date of review: November 12, 2011

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

In short: Nice flat course, well orgainsed with a mix of terrain.
In full: The start of the race was very crowded. I found it difficult to find my rhythm as the guided busway paths were very narrow. There was also quite a queue for the baggage drop off.

This was a nice flat course. The first few kilometres were along the guided bus way and through the Science park, so there wasn't much in the way of attractive scenery. However, the remainder of the course was trail and off road, with pretty scenery.

Got a medal, banana and a bottle of water at the end.

Overall, a good race to do.
Date of review: November 9, 2011

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

In short: A good quick course, especially the stretch along the Guided Busway.
In full: A good race, well-marshalled. The smooth flat surface along the Guided Busway made for a very quick first 2km.
Date of review: November 9, 2011

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

In short: Enjoyable run with with NO HILLS!
In full: Very well done overall, though in this large field, chip timing is desperately needed. The start pace near the back was very slow in the beginning due to crowding and large numbers, so don't start further back than your expected position (like I did) and lose nearly a minute in the first K. Even then I got a PB on my own timing from the line.
I felt the tunnel was too far from the finish line and did not narrow soon enough to ensure runners were kept in the right order of finish. At least one runner was wrongly given ahead of me and took my time. It was my fault for pulling up too soon after crossing the finish and not carrying on to the tunnel, but it has never been an issue before, so I think the layout of the tunnel was not ideal.
Apart from that, well done Bonfire Burn!
Date of review: November 8, 2011

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

In short: Need to sort the start out/send race numbers out by post but otherwise a really well put on event - I hope it becomes a fixture on the running calender. Well done organisers
Date of review: November 7, 2011

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