2012 Cheshire Oaks Chester Half Marathon

A real sting in the tail , but on turning the corner at the top of the slope it was brilliant with the support which awaited.The atmosphere in the City afterwards was to be seen to be believed - the running community had taked over Chester City Centre.

Fantastic support and excellent organisation - good medal and technical t-shirt.

What more can you ask for ? Even my wife ( a supporter) enjoyed the atmosphere !

Many thanks to all those involved with the flawless organisation of this tremendous HM. The suporters were great, even the weather was perfect.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">good event- though the matting at the start was uneven- so slow start- course was OK but 4 miles of climbing isn't a fast course.............good and well organised overall - was there a goody bag??????? Got asked at the bottom of st werburghs street did I want a Mars bar or haribo- and that was it..........I dont enter a race for a goody bag but thought there was supposed to be one............great to see runners take over the city centre though

my mistake- a post race treat............there you go.............will be back next year to do it justice- did a half marathon the week before in a massive PB so took this one as a recovery run..........

My Garmin clocked 407feet of ascent.

I saw no goody bag , but truthfully ,who needs one of these?

As a senior runner there are two points during a run when I don't want to be tackling a hill, at the start before the joints and tendons have had a chance to warm up, and at the end when I'm well and truly knackered. Unfortunately this course had both. In addition there was a long walk back to baggage collection which is not ideal after a hard run. Surely the baggage can be shifted up to the finish point whilst the race is in progress. In Athens the Greeks manage to move it 26 miles. The organisers coped well with the change in parking arrangements but as the race brings so much revenue into the city a relaxation of parking charges would have been welcomed. I, myself, spent almost £200 during my stay. As for the route it was not as scenic as I thought it might be and I feel a circuit of the city would be more appropriate for a city half. The finish though was superb.

I enjoyed the race but I don't think you could class it as fast course. Some decent hills plus the congestion at the strt and at half way certainly slowed me down.

Everything was well orgnised though - only cost me £5 to park so didn't think tht was too bad, would hve only been £2 if the racecourse hadn't been so muddy.

Ran in my new t-shirt this morning so well pleased with that. i will certinly be back next year.9 out of 10 for me - only little complaint was the congestion.

This was my first half marathon and I thought it was a well organised and friendly event. 

For me, the course was pretty tough, but that was due to my inexperience, setting off a tad too quick, and the heat - I even have sunburn!  However, I did think it was quite a pretty route and thought the support of the locals on the way round was fantastic - especially when they can see you fading and shout your name. 

I thought the walk back to the racecourse to pick up my bag was a really good cool down and it wasn't that far - I am a slow runner and was on my feet for a long time and I managed it ok!  As for the parking - it's a major tourist city - it's going to cost to park...as it goes, I don't think £5 is excessive.

The massage was fantastic and the baggage area was great with lots of cheerful volunteers. 

Overall, great job, well done!

Anyone know any other websites for photos from the race apart from marathon-photos.com 

Try RWSportsphotos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40039558@N05/7198595546/

Didn't think this H M was as fun or as scenic as Liverpools H M in March. Fewer supporters and killer hill at the end. Would have like to have seen end of race rather than it being hidden round a bend

However, congestion at start and throughout wasn't as bad as anticipated. Found my pace 10mins in after starting literally at the back. This was more to do with fewer runners taking part than organisation.

Frequent water stations were good and Tshirt will be worn. Haribo great sugar boost to see me on my way home. Changed a named runner prior to start and this process took seconds! Thank you!

Be back next year with luck

Agree with you Rachel that Liverpool more interesting on the eye - that's true of the city full stop, and tbh there are some less scenic bits of bypass we could have been dragged thru' in Chester. Think the hill at the end was a bit of a groan, but the end itself was great. The bitty run thru the indistrial estate at the end of Liverpool HM is pretty uninspiring for me, and the wind direction on the prom ( not a problem this year)can make the last couple of miles hellish. All in all, Chester is a smaller race in a smaller city, but both are great races, well organised and well supported, and I'll be planning to do both again in 2013.

Hello!

Does anyone have a race number I can buy off them please- would absolutely love to run in the Cheshire Half Marathon- left it a tad too late to apply!

Thank you!

Hollie ,

            It was ran in May . Plenty of time to enter for 2013 .