adidas Silverstone Half Marathon in aid of Genetic Disorders UKHere's how RW members rated this race in the past (16 votes). | 1 to 10 of 16 ratings | Page: 1 2 |
| The big picture (16 votes) | | Overall score | | 74% | | How many would do it again? | | 72% | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 52% | | PB potential | | 85% | | Atmosphere | | 62% | | Organisation | | 78% | | Value | | 79% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 72% |
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2013 race reviewed by: Ian Lloyd 2
 | | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Flat, windy, high PB potential, nice medal and t-shirt. Parking a nightmare, and race photos extortionate
In full: I returned to run this event only because I was unhappy with my first crack at this race, missing my target time by 44 seconds. I knew what to expect and the chance to run around the F1 circuit is brilliant for racing fans like me. Getting there early is an absolute must, as getting into the circuit really can be the headache that is synonymous with the venue, and can leave you stressed out before you even start running if you cut it close.
The ‘athlete village’ area is very crowded, to be expected with a race of this size, but the baggage is well staffed and organised, and they are brilliant when you come to reclaim your bag the worse for wear.
The start is great, crossing the line with the F1 music in the background as you head down to the famous maggots/becketts/chapel corners, such a good start. The start/finish area is the only part where you will see gathered spectators though, as for large portions of the circuit it’s just you and your fellow runners, can be quite lonely. The track is very flat, with only two incline of around 100m, really nothing to concern even the most scared of hills. Each mile marker has the race clock on it, very useful indeed, especially if you forget your watch like me!!! The atmosphere running into the finish area is brilliant.
The medal and t-shirt are brilliant, and you won’t be short of water and lucozade at any point on the course.
Now for the downside of the event, leaving the circuit was a nightmare, and I was sat in a queue for well over an hour, and I left before the masses!! Not a marshall insight, a real free-for-all. The race was attended by marathonfoto, and their photographers were plentiful on the course and in the finish area, however charging £55 to download your images is absolutely scandalous, that’s over twice as much as the fee to run the race!!! I can’t imagine they did much business in this day and age, surely they would do more business and have more happy customers by charging a respectable fee?
I have achieved my goals for this race now, so combined with the headache of parking and outrageous memento photograph prices I will certainly not be back. A good event ruined in my opinion.
Date of review: March 31, 2013
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2012 race reviewed by: Sweatband
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Round and a round and around ..........boring zzzzz
In full: What a boring course. I've no interest in F1 so couldn't care less if I run through the pit stops. Crowds at mile one and crowds at mile 12 and nothing but wind in between . Yuk
Date of review: March 22, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: greasygringo
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: running around a f1 race course
In full: flat course with pb potential but not a favourite of mine due to atmosphere and scenery.nice medal and tshirt tho.nice price for a half.glad iv done it but other races on same day such as llanelli and bath
Date of review: March 19, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: On The Rails
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Large race good for first time marathon training runners and the crank value
In full: I would only recommend this race if you are keen on motor racing (or wanting to visit Silverstone), or for a good fast half marathon run.
Reason for this is that running around Silverstone motor racing circuit is similar to running Dunsfold or runs on Airfields where you are open to the elements, but weather (Wind) permitting there is PB potential. These races do lack atmosphere for large chunks of the race but the tannoy system was put to good use by playing 80's hits. Well organised but parking was challenging!
Date of review: March 14, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Fake Marv
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Mostly flat and fast and a very good medal. Bit dull though... and the parking is a nightmare!
Date of review: March 14, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: SparklyScientist80
| | Overall score | | 20% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 20% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: Boring
In full: I was excited about this race but I was quite disappointed. I actually thought the Blackpool half last year was better than this one. It was soulless, there was very little support around the track only when you past the 3 mile, 6 (ish I think) and 10 miles was there any support. I don't know what I expected but because its the half marathon most London marathon runners do I thought it might have a bit more atmosphere but it didn't. The tinny tannoys blurting out music we're awful, thank goodness I had my iPod which I don't usually like to use during these big races because I like to hear the support. It is a flat race, but again this added to the boredom. I think unless you're a proper serious runner after a pb, maybe choose a more interesting half to do with a bit of a view. On the positive side, it was very well organised, the traffic wasn't as bad as expected and I got a pb 5k and 10k time. I'm glad I've done it because now I know this sort of track race isn't for me, I like to see things other than concrete, but it's not a race ill be rushing back to do.
Date of review: March 5, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Nicola Tarrant 2
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Good half marathon for slower runners
Date of review: March 4, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Sennaton
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Flat and fast
In full: Very well organised from bag drop/pick up; lots of water/lucozade stops; good marshalling (apart from car park exit - this could be done better).
Not much in the way of a crowd except at start/finish due to large nature of the track so if you need a crowd to get you round there may be better races. Not scenic unless you are an F1 fan in which case it's fantastic!
Great medal and t-shirt all for a reasonable price. I will do it again.
Date of review: March 4, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Tenjiso
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Smooth organisation
In full: Silverstone is notorious for access problems, and based on previous race reviews I was prepared for a lot of waiting. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Straight in to the car parking, and out of the area again in around 20 minutes, which was pretty good considering the volume of traffic along the single road.
The race is never going to win any awards for scenery, but you don't sign up to run on a racing circuit and expect to see anything other than stands and roads, surely? Unless it was Monaco, I suppose.
I really can't fault the organisation of the essentials, such as baggage handling. The race started on time, and it was a great touch to start running to the F1 theme tune. I'm not a huge F1 fan by any stretch, but I'm going to get goosebumps every time I hear that theme from now on!
This is the biggest event I've run to date, so it was quite a novelty to be surrounded by other runners from start to finish. Bunching around the course was minimal and there were loads of opportunities for overtaking without fuss.
It's not a flat course, but the inclines are no more than about 2%, so there is plenty of PB potential. I found my Garmin was persistently measuring short miles (probably because I wasn't following the racing line well enough), so it's a good idea to wear a pace band if you want to hit a specific target.
I really enjoyed the experience and thought it was good value for money.
Date of review: March 4, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Sue Torrance
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In full: A good race especially for 1st timers but very surprised that a race of that standing had every mile marker incorrectly placed and therefore not a true half to compare to other pbs, as course longer by at least 0.2miles! Not just my garmin that was measuring this but all around me!!
Date of review: March 4, 2013
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