Rutland Water Marathon

Hi all. While I really enjoyed the run, there are a few issues which need to be adressed for future renewals.

The start position was a crazy distance from the car park and needs to be moved closer--this could easily be compensated by a slight course change.

The mile markers were consistently out of position. There is little point in having them if they are not positioned correctly.

I found the calle grids dangerous---it was bad enough combating and swerving around cyclists!

If the run had been today, I think part of the course would have been hazardous, and extremely slippy.

But all in all well done for a first effort---just get those results posted. Surely it was the whole point of having the chips! The longer we wait, the more embarassing it is for the organisers!

Good lord.

Dangerous cattle grids? They seemed fine to me.

I thought it was a great event. I might even go back and do it again.

Glad to hear you finished - jasshef

bloody hard course 

runner 670 

"I dont agree though that not anything could have been done about the cattle grids. All the gates could have been opened and it should have been enforced not to run over them.
The marathon is a challenge on any course but when you dont fully have your wits about you, you dont want to be racing over slippy metal."

Are you having a laugh? Did you injure yourself?

It was an off road with bumpy slippy terrain, loose stones, nettles, spikey plants, traffic, aircraft doing aerobatics, water, sheep, shit, geese, dogs, bikes, children, hockey players (seriously!), plastic cups, gardeners, cattle grids and gates.

That's what makes it a fun and rewarding challenge. 

Yes they should have swept all those leaves up too

I thought the cattle grids were OK if you approached them right. I found a good "three step" method and I think I ended up going over nearly all of them.

Plus One for the "three step method"

It wasn't long ionto the event that I worked out that going across the grids was both safe and, more importantly, quicker than going through the gates.

Obviously quicker seemed less important as I dragged my sorry ar5e up the hill at 21

Strangely the more I think about the race, the more I'm proud of finishing it and finishing it with a decent time. I may well be back next year .....

Yep 3 step method for me as well. 

In truth I quite looked forward to the cattle grids as an enforced slow down for a couple of seconds. 

I had a gripe about the organisation but I had no complaints about the course, which I thought was brilliant. The cattle grids surely weren't a problem for people, were they? I reckoned that each one cost me at most 2 seconds. Don't know how many there were in total, but probably not enough to seriously affect anyone's overall time. I must say that until the point during the first lap of the peninsula when my virusy thing started coming back to floor me, I was enjoying it as much as any marathon I've ever done. I was so disappointed to have to pull out at 17.5 miles, but discretion was the better part of valour.

 Ralph, if you're reading this, it looks from your chip time as if you will have got your Boston qualifying time - congratulations! Drop me a PM.

Hey MB, thanks to both of you for putting up with me!!  Certainly that last 10k would have been hell on my own.

How's your back?

Blinking awful

Made me realise that I won't be running another Marathon in 2011.

Just going to do around 7-10 walking ones instead.

Hopefully I can get into London in 2012 and do that one as a one off. 

I found this quite hard going having done a marathon the day before

I think the reason for the grumbles is that a lot of people entered thinking it would be a bit like a road marathon but perhaps a bit hilly as it is road marathon price. Infact it was more like your LDWA type event but without the cake!

I took it steady, walked most the hills, but that was always the plan, so didnt find them too bad.  Infact, being tired from the day before I was often willing a hill to come along so I could have a little walk!

I think for the price they charged they def needed sports drinks or gels. Just water in cups is not adequate for a marathon.  I carried my own stuff as I knew provision was going to be rubbish!

I would do it again, I knew what to expect as I have run round there before.  I think people who were unhappy were unhappy because they didnt get what they expected.  It wasnt a proper off road job like Fairlands Valley, it was inbetween that and a road one.  I quite like that as I dont always want to be chasing times and it made a nice change from the flat track of the day before!