The Shakespeare Raceway Half Marathon & 10km - Events

MichaelW

05/03/2011 at 19:04

Did anyone else miss the final loop?

I ran 20km in just under 1:20 but didn't run the final 800 metre loop so ended up finishing 800 metres short and got disqualified. I know at the end of the day this is my responsibility, but they should have put a marshal on the home straight to explain where to go. When you are overtaking the slow runners it is not always obvious who to follow, as the person in front of me was lost in the slower crowd.

I think I would have done quite well in the vet placings, I would have finished around 1:24:30 so I was most unhappy.

On the positive side it is the first race I have ever run where nobody has overtaken me after the first 5 minutes.

Despite my D/Q I would run it again as long as I know the route.

DomBres

05/03/2011 at 20:55

I must admit before the race I was completely unaware of the extra 'out and back', but in fairness to the organisers it was on display in the Race HQ and was clearly mentioned in the briefing.

Although I agree with you on the fact that near the home straight there was a lack of someone reminding people of the extra part.

Good day though.

Helen Harrison 7

06/03/2011 at 12:52

If anyone wants to transfer there entry to the marathan i would be really gratefull

i tried to enter but was to late, so if anyone wants to tranfer please email me

Thanks Helen

GeeeM

06/03/2011 at 13:02

That's a nightmare Michael! Good time too...

I'm with Dominic on this one - it was mentioned at the start, (if you could hear it), on display in Race HQ and there was a yellow sign which said something like "This way after 4 laps" as you came round by the grandstand...

Thought it was a good circuit and I got my sub 1:40 PB sorted though my Garmin measured each mile a bit long and 13.35 overall. Wouldn't have liked to be out there on a windy day though!

Official results are up at the link below!

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/default.asp?a=2&e=794

Edited: 06/03/2011 at 13:03

Chris Algar

07/03/2011 at 12:54

Really enjoyed my first Shakespeare Half marathon and found that the course was easy enough to follow because I was well down the field at 1 hour 53mins!

Agree that the final loop was very confusing and it must have been awful to have been disqualified due to the marshalling not being that clear on the final stretch.

Like many others, didn't hear any of the pre-race briefing as loud hailer pointing away from the runners for a lot of the time - but I did discover the info on the board AFTER the race!

Was a bit surprised that one or two of the marshalls in uniform had lit up a fag to pollute thr runners - but I guess they were bored!

All in all it was a good event thanks

Catherine O 29

07/03/2011 at 16:14

Hi Catherine here, race director from Saturday, just wanted to thank you for all your comments madeas they are hugely important to us to enable us to make our races run as smoothly and enjoyable as possible in the future.

I would like to reply to some of the comments so far as we are going to add and change a few parts to the Half marathon for November thanks to these very helpful points.

Out & Back loop after 4th lap:- we thought we had made all the signs as clear as possible due to the signs in HQ, the briefing and the barrell with the yellow sign attached which you had to run past after lap 1, 2, 3 and 4 saying ' After 4th lap' arrow pointing left.

Now we know that wasn't enough we will have another sign to run past on every lap where the finis right sign was saying after 4th lap keep left for out & back loop. We can't use a person here because then runners will depend on that person to tell them where to go but a marshal will not know how many laps anyone has done, it needs to be each person counting for themselves.

We will also have a tent outside registration with a marshal to point you to your name and find your number and to tell every single runner to make sure they read the course information board.

We will get a louder speaker for the pre-race briefing which after 4 races with the same speaker nobody has said they can't hear before so good to have this feedback to get a louder speaker for the briefing.

There is a no smoking policy for marshals on the course so this will be rectified.

So a big thank you for taking the time to put this information down as now we can do all we can to make his an even better race in November.

Well done to all of you for taking part and again a big thanks to all the emails and thanks for us putting the event on, we enjoyed every minute from start to finish.

Kindest regards

Catherine & Martine

Chris Algar

07/03/2011 at 17:00

Great to have the feedback from the organisers so promptly!

Can some-one advise where the results are posted please? Many thanks

Catherine O 29

07/03/2011 at 17:10

Results can be viewed at www.raceways.eu which takes you to the links you can also click on below:-

10km

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=2&e=793

Half Marathon

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=2&e=794

Many thanks

Little M.iss Happy

07/03/2011 at 17:55

I guess a lot of people couldn't hear the pre-race briefing because of their earphones - I have never seen such a high proportion of a race field blatantly breaking the well displayed (as was the route in all fairness) rules. I trust that the DQing will be enforced?

DomBres

07/03/2011 at 19:08

Thankyou for your response Catherine.

Could I ask whether you could comment on a few people's queries regarding the 'goody bag' and clarify what exactly the 'momento' was, because there didn't seem to be anything momentous in the bags?

Thanks again for an enjoyable race.

micknphil-marathonlads.com

07/03/2011 at 19:56

hope all went well for everyone- and that u all had a fab time

in the end i just could not make it - personal reasons i wont bore anyone with

hope the organisers read this - as my e mails down

Catherine O 29

08/03/2011 at 21:22

Hi again to everyone and thanks again for all comments, sorry you couldn't make it Mick n Phil, November we'll have a place for you again just email.

Goody bag contents - a banana, a naked oat/fruit bar, a bottle of water, a £5 voucher (which would buy a pair of socks or towards something more from Run Breeze.com) and the momento which was a 500ml plastic sports bottle with the race title on for use on a bike or gym etc....we wanted something that could be used again and again so we trialled it and majority of runners loved the bottle from what we were told.

We have probably got one of the cheapest half marathons around at £12/ £14 and we have a huge amount of people who do not want a t-shirt so we decided not to do a t-shirt to keep the cost down and just run an enjoyable race at a minimum cost with all the proceeds going towards our not for profit company 'kids run free' we did think that the momento and a few items to eat and drink plus the £5 voucher was fair and so many runners thanked us for this which was lovely.

Our description of this race will be changed for November and our wording of goody bag will be changed to momento and we will keep the fee the same and see how that works for November along with our other changes already mentioned in comments above.

It is very good for our race to be promoted well so we aim to change it and work towards it being as great as we can possibly make it....

We think it's a little bit different being at the airfield and we enjoy every minute of putting it together,

Again, many thanks for your comments.

Kindest regards

Catherine

The Bald Assasin

11/05/2011 at 21:31

Hi Catherine

Sorry to post so late but I've just picked this up on the back of booking my November entrance.

I've run the 10k and the 1/2 and much prefer to finish down the straight once. I understand the need for annuracy on distance but could you not find the extra metre's out on the course? The final mini loop was very stoney, uneven and tatty which I felt detracted from the overall event.

Just a thought but I'll still be back in November (and I'd prefer a medal every time.....)

Rgds

TBA

statt0

25/05/2011 at 13:57

I'd prefer a medal to a bottle too.

legend777

20/07/2011 at 14:06

Anyone else doing the half marathon on November 19th? Considering this as a third half marathon is relatively quick succession with me doing Bristol in Sept and Cardiff in Oct.

Steve Mobley 4

20/07/2011 at 15:12

sounds interesting wlll consider it to

cj_rees

27/07/2011 at 22:22

Catharine,

great top see an organiser responding / taking onboard feedback from runners. Just to add to the comments re the 800m loop. If possible do this on the FIRST lap. 2 good reasons for this. 1) runners are less bunched and the sign can be taken away after the last runner has passed. 2) Less time for us runners to remember the loop, especially when tired!

Hoping to do the 10k in November

Thanks

Chris

Steffan Kennett

03/08/2011 at 16:14

Hi All,

this sounds like a good event.

I'd like to ask how people found the multiple laps from a crowding point of view. So, did the faster runners feel the flatness of the course was offset at all by any weaving/dodging by the time they got to their third and fourth laps?

All the best

Steffan

martin Lynch 3

30/08/2011 at 13:59

Hi Stefan
there is not really any issue with overcrowding
Martin

Tempo Tom

20/09/2011 at 13:32

I ran this race in March and thought it was fantastic.

Great value for money, a decent goody bag (although I too would prefer even the cheapest of medals over a sports bottle) and good atmosphere.

I loved it being laps on an airfield. Unique and good for pacing - after one lap you know what to expect with gradient etc which really helps you figure out when to start pushing in the final few miles.

There wasn't a problem with overcrowding, the course is very wide, lots of room. I also like the fact that it takes place twice a year. Although I don't think I'll beat my PB (which I set in March during high mileage marathon training), it is good not to have to wait so long to do it again.

Highly recommended.