Hotelympia 10KHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (41 votes). | 1 to 10 of 41 ratings | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 |
| The big picture (41 votes) | | Overall score | | 70% | | How many would do it again? | | 77% | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 57% | | PB potential | | 70% | | Atmosphere | | 61% | | Organisation | | 62% | | Value | | 74% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 79% |
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2012 race reviewed by: DanPal
 | | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Flat course, very well organized with some really good extras
In full: Good run, very flat, with some nice sections along the river but some less attractive sections in car parks. A nice mix of runners from very fast to non runners. The after lunch brunch was great (free), the goodie bag top quality with a really nice running shirt inside. Personally surprised it's not rated higher. I'll definitely do it again.
Date of review: April 2, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Petra Clayton
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: Didn't enjoy the double loop
In full: Needed more water stations and smaller bottles or cups. It was a warm day and people were exhausted and promised more regular stations.
Date of review: March 8, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Kiki Penth
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: A good 10k in East London Docklands with flat surface, free brunch, good medal, decent scenery, bathrooms at start/finish. I did not really enjoy the double loop of the route but it wasnt a big issue. Would have liked water stations more spaced out.
In full: The route has changed from previous years and it is now a double loop starting from in front of the ExCel in East London (Docklands - DLR station of Custom House for ExCel).
The pre-race instructions were clear and timely even though my question around route elevation was never answered (it was flat).
Getting there was very easy on the DLR and rather quick. We picked up our race numbers the previous day so there was no queueing on race day. There were plenty of toilets at the start/finish and minimal queueing as a result.
The race itself started on time, and there were around 700 participants (according to the results page). As a result it never got crowded and allowed you to maintain the speed you wanted to. There were some walkers (or semi-walkers) so it is encouraging for beginners.
My one issue was the water stations. I did not see any before the 5k mark (there must have been as I saw some racers holding water) and instead of a grab-and-go table they were being handed out in hand. There was no water at the finish line when I finished (just over an hour) and neither was there any at the brunch - there were some water coolers though.
The double loop of the race was a bit tiresome, more mentally than physically, as you knew you had to do it over again! There were marshalls around the route and it seemed well designated as well. I felt it lacked the kilometres signs however - as I barely saw any.
Post race, the brunch was amazing and a really nice touch (plus it was FREE). Baps/toast with sausage, bacon, mushroom and tomato, yoghurt, fruits, hot drinks.
The medal was great too, good quality plus the goodie bag was pretty good too with a diet coke, sports drinks, chocolate bar (cadbury's was a sponsor), breakfast biscuits, a T Shirt and leaflets.
Overall, good and worth it and will definitely try to do it again.
Date of review: February 27, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: Alison Fryatt
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Smooth route and free brunch!
In full: Race HQ is in the Excel Centre, so plenty of loos, and car parking (though wished they'd warned us it was £10 for over 2 hours). There was a good aerobic warm-up beforehand - well done to the lady who led it. Part of the route was along the Royal Victoria dockside, which is very scenic, and it was virtually pancake flat. Lots of PBs as a result. No sign of the slippery metal bridges that reviewers in previous years have complained about, so I assume the route must have changed. One road to cross but the marshalls controlled the traffic well. Being two laps meant that we had to jump out the way for the race leader as he came around, but hopefully the slowcoaches at the back like me didn't slow him up too much! Would have been good if the two water stations had been better spaced out, but not a huge problem. Nice medal and goody bag with various choccy bars and diet coke. The free brunch was great - bacon, sausage, tomato and mushroom rolls, fruit, yoghurts and tea and coffee. Plenty for both runners and supporters. And the brunch meant that folks hung around for the award ceremony, which created a great atmosphere, especially with Steve Cram and one of our Olympic hopefuls, Conrad Williams, supporting the event. A good race all round.
Date of review: February 26, 2012
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2012 race reviewed by: AllyJ
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: A relaxed, easy race - easy to get to and easy to run
In full: Well organised and slick, as well as being easy to get to, made this a good practice race/time trial. The atmosphere was friendly with a free brunch afterwards. Only downside is that the route is a double lap. Also needed to swap some of the drinks stations on the course to have drinks at the end. Overall made for a good morning.
Date of review: February 26, 2012
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2010 race reviewed by: Mark 10
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Shame about weather
Date of review: March 5, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: colin kent
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: well done all on a difficalt day of weather. dont listen to the moaners.
In full: how can they rely on garmins with all those tall buildings around, it felt the distance to me and surely experianced runners can tell. put the gagets away until your running the open feilds.
Date of review: March 1, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Runner Martin
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Great event for fun
In full: Measured course short at 5.91 miles
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Nice goody bag, medal, great breakfast and tee. Nice scenery generally - so great value
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Shame the course was short - think we turned to early on the first out and back - did not seem to be a marshal
Poor weather
Date of review: March 1, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Teresa Bennett
| | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Not the best organised and not quite a 10k distance!
In full: Had been looking forward to this race as had travelled from Gloucester and the race was part of our weekend away.
Only saw 2 distance markers at 2km and 3km and these seemed to be not far enough. This made it a little harder to pace myself. It was good to have chips but everyone was in together at the start which meant it was sometimes difficult to move around other runners.
I had overheard the organisers saying at the start that a lot of the marshalls had not shown up which was a shame as the route really needed more marshalls to organise the runners and to shout out any hazards such as the metal bridges. There were a few places where the runners who were on their return had to fight their way through runners going in the opposite direction. Although the lead bike was doing his absolute best to shout to people to get out the way, he could have been supported by marshalls to do the same and keep the runners on the left hand side. The lead runner also had to shout at people to get out of the way which he shouldn't have had to have done. The marshalls on the course needed to be a bit more vocal.
Although it was nice to finish, it was a little disspointing to find it was not actually 10k. I do not have a Garmin but based on my time I guessed that it was about half a mile short. I have no idea of how good my time is for the distance, which is a shame.
The only other thing that could have improved the race for me was a bit more signage, for example something telling me to go upstairs to the post race brunch - I had to ask as was not sure and something telling me where to put my chip after the race.
£15 was not a bad price for a 10k particularly with the Tshirt and medal. I had seen from emails sent to me that there was a goody bag but the additional freebies from the organisations was an added bonus - the warm food and drink was a welcome sight after getting so wet and cold. It was also nice to have decent toilets and facilities to change in.
If this was an entire 10k race accurately marked and was supported with more marshalls it would have been a good race for me.
Date of review: March 1, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: tpaway
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Nice race, good value with plenty of extras (bacon butties for one).
Date of review: March 1, 2010
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