Events

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

In short: strong wind+ long course= no pb!
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Pancake flat but totally exposed to the wind
In full: I agree with many of the previous comments. On a windy day this course is tough going. I did this race in November aswell and although it was colder back then the much calmer wind made it a lot easier.

I liked the warm-up event before the start as it got people ready and motivated on what was a windy day. Overall this is good value at around £15. Plenty of food and drink and a decent medal at the end.

I also recorded 13.29 miles on the Garmin. I know that GPS watches aren't always totally accurate but that is a big difference on what ought to be a relatively easy course to measure.

I may come back again but overall I enjoyed it more first time round last November.
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Nearly blown off my feet!!
In full: My first time at this event.

The venue was unique but you had to be careful you didn't put your foot in a pothole. The scenery was dull, the atmosphere non-existant and 4 laps of it made the task quite tedious. The wind at the bottom of the runway was horrendous, it slowed me down to a near stop

However the price of the race, the organisation and the marshalls were good. Very easy and quick to pick up numbers at the start. I was not expecting the medal and the slices of orange were nice at the end. The facilities were good overall.

I was not massively impressed with this event but as it is only down the road from where I live and the tempting PB potential, weather permitting, I may still enter this race again in the future.
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		20%
PB potential		100%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		40%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: you know what to expect here
In full: Having raced here three times in 10k's I knew exactly what to expect. Little bit of window dressing had taken place,some children's entertainment. The usual pre race info was inaudible. In my opinion maybe the 5k and 10 needs to be started at a different time, spent the first 800m trying to get passed people who had stood in completely the wrong place. The course is stoney and pot holey. The wind was very strong (is it ever any different). All that aside I got a massive pb, the four laps didn't phase me. Thought that the cross over at 500m from the end was not the best idea. The food at the end was a nice touch. The drinks gave the impression it was Gatorade but seemed like water to me. I am also not fond of cups of water during half marathons. Some of the Marshalls made no effort whatsoever, whilst others were helpful. Biggest negative for me is the utterly pointless goody bag-A nice medal but only a medal seems tight to me. All in all a place to achieve your precious pb but don't expect too much for your money.
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Great course if the wind stays down
In full: This is a flat PB course but only on a calm day. The final long straights of each lap (on the airfield runway) were run into a strong headwind. That's a total of about 1K per lap with the wind holding you up. By my Garmin pace I reckoned it was adding 30 secs/km. I did get a half marathon PB but missed my goal of sub-90 by 2 mins, which I put down mainly to that wind.

Later on I met a couple of other runners in Stratford town who had run this course before and they said it had never been so tough with the wind. So be warned and expect to work a lot harder on a blowy day.

Lastly commentators on previous editions of this race have mentioned that the course seemed long and I agree - the Garmin measured the half marathon at 21.28KM.
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In full: The organisers who had a role e.g. giving out numbers were good and at the end very friendly. I also won a prize so it was a worthwhile trip. But when I double checked to make sure I was going the right way I was sent the wrong way and almost ended up doing another circuit. Thankfully I knew what I was told was wrong so was able to avert disaster!
Date of review: March 5, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator