My Event Ratings

Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: An undulating run on moptorways and duel carridgeways.
In full: Looking at the course elevation profile gave mne the impression there were only a couple of gentle inclines, but instead I found it was up and down the whole way which meant I didn't achieve my target time (PB though).
Water bottles didn't open very well which meant I didn't get much water. Trying to drink from a half opened water bottle at 5:20 pace saps a lot of your energy.
The crowd support was ok, but not spectacular. I assume that was due to the horrible weather though.
It was a hell of a long way to the Metro station at the finish and queueing for 30 mins in rain just to get on and then taking another 40 minutes to get to central station wasn't great.
My girlfriend wanted to watch me on the route but found that the Metro stations were so far away from the route, she couldn't get there in time!
Last point is that baggage buses were ok, but why not use the same system as the London Marathon instead of random bags on random buses.
Date of review: September 23, 2010

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Even though there were at least two tough hills, the quick downhill sections made up for lost time... however the hills still take a lot out of you! Nice medal, enough water stations and loads of marshalls.
Date of review: March 7, 2010

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Mostly on pavements with some muddy parts over the last 1km.
In full: Pavements had lots of bumps which added a lot of time. First 4.5km was pretty fast (downhill and flat) but 1 big hill about a km long around the 5k mark which was unexpected as it was meant to be a flat course. also the marshalls could have been a bit more friendly and actually told you which direction to run in.
apart from this, it was well organised and everything seemed to run pretty smoothly. nice goody bag stuff and free massage.
recommened. i actually ran a 2 min PB anyway :D
Date of review: November 15, 2009

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Managed a PB by over a minute!
In full: A couple of long very gentle inclines, but apart from that it is flat. A very fast start and a lot of runners went out too quickly so bear that in mind...
Date of review: September 6, 2009

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: A fun race through the countryside, but watch out for the killer hill at the end!
Date of review: April 19, 2009

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Nice memento at the end and mars bar was good too. Even though there were some steep uphills, there were some nice looong downhills where you could really pick up speed.
Date of review: December 28, 2008

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Some of the hills were tough but the long down sections allowed you to build up speed. I actually achieved a PB of 38:37 (1 min faster than my previous best!).
Date of review: May 24, 2008

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: A few tough hills, and the weather was hot, but overall, a very good race definitely worth doing.
Date of review: May 16, 2008

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