Canvey Island Rotary 10K

They did actually come to me after the race and asked my views on the course etc, I did mention many of the things which have been said already on the thread, plus I did try and drum into the person, that this is a multi-terrain race, not a road race!

Problem is, the rotary club is not an athletics club, so have no experience of running such an event, so as a result mistakes are made, maybe some rule needs to be made that races are only organised by registered athletics club, maybe!

Maybe they need to use someone like Steve Kemp as a Race Advisor?

I think following the running boom of the 80s resulted in a lot of road races being organised by non athletic clubs and associations as they saw it an easy way to raise a lot of money quickly, for whatever cause. The Brentwood Rotary Club has organised the Brentwood Half marathon for over 20 years now (one of the most dangerous courses I have ever run from a traffic point of view!!) so within their organisation there should be enough experience to be called on to organise a good quality race.

Already to many good races have gone to the wall so to ban organisers other than clubs putting on the races would not be a solution. However, there are enough running clubs within the area (Pitsea, Castlepoint Benfleet etc) who perhaps they could contact and ask for assistance.

It looks from this outsiders point of view, that providing they classify the race correctly as multi terrain, and tighten up the organisation/marshalling then they should have a good race.

As I said earlier, they are charging runners, and how ever good a cause is, a race organiser does have a duty to the people who support the event to provide value for money.

I suppose that is the good side of these forums and rating races. Apart from new races at least you can get a good idea of what to expect from past years.

In their defence -
I ran this race last year and again this year and really didn't encounter any major problems. I never read too much into normal race descriptions, as "undulating" normally means bloody hilly and flat means "undulating". So whether is says multi-terrain or road is really only a guide.
I certainly wouldn't call it an off-road multi-terrain race.
(Come to our Benfleet 15 for that !)

I wasn't involved in the messy start, as I was in the 10k race, near the middle of the pack. I heard the hooter, and as with other smaller races, that is normally all you get as a start. It's not the olympics, it's not chipped, so it is only ever going to be a low-key start.

The 10K course was fine, I saw plenty of marshalls (I didn't get lost) and there were mile markers at every mile. Three water stations (which for a 10k is rare) and plently of St.Johns presence.
Everyone was friendly and the finish was well organised with a nice medal.

I only found out about the link to the pics from the forum, and I would like to have seen the results on the web by now, which is what we all have come to expect these days.

I have read all the forum comments above, and can understand why some people involved in the errors are a bit peeved, and rightly need answers to them before they would come back.

Me ?
I had a good race in the September sunshine and enjoyed it.

I agree for myself it wasn't a bad race, plenty of marshalls after the start. But can totally understand why some of the leaders were annoyed about being sent the wrong way. But I'm sure they won't make the same mistake next year.

Just want to see my result, then I'll be content.

But it does highlight the dramatic variation in race quality. I know I've been to better and far worse than this in the past. I suppose the events that have been running since the 80's have plenty of experience to improve the race for everyone.

Good point well made -they need to be congrtaulated and encoouraged for starting a new race (particularly after the demise of the Kings Club 10K in 1998)

Exactly.

i emailed them earlier, asking if they had the results, they have just emailed me back the results and also said they are now on there site.

http://www.canveyrotary.org.uk/10K2005results_000.htm

YEAH!! :o0

;o)

Oops, I know one guy who ended up with a time 7 mins faster in the results than he actually did. I think a few numbers must have got mixed up or lost on their way round the course. Seem to be a lot of blanks.

Confirmed my time and I'm happy with that!

The results are also on my site now - click here to view

Anyone down that neck of the woods care to send me some race info on upcoming events (05 or 06) for inclusion on my site? Entry forms very welcome and don't forget you can have your results hosted on my site as well as your own if you wish (no charge)