My Event Ratings

Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		20%
Value		20%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Only difference between this and getting mugged is the lack of bruises !!
In full: First up, I have been running for many years and done many races from 5K to half marathons. I am also involved in race organisation for my club, so have some insight into how things work and problems faced in getting events up and running. That said, there are many things that could be improved for next time. (Doubt i'll be there to judge it though)

For £30 I was expecting something more than a tea-bag (not even proper tea), cheap medal, and a load of paper to go in my re-cycling bin. I run as a personal challenge to improve, so medals and t-shirts are not my top priority, however for a thirty quid entrance fee I came away feeling like i'd been ripped off. Try the Great Eastern in Peterborough if you want value for money. Excellent support, marshaling, goody-bags, course ect and all for half the price. There were lots of first time runners so it would have been nice to give them a good memory of the day with a nice memento.

Weather and transport were beyond organisers control, and good on them for postponing the start. (Did mean that I ended up freezing my nuts off under what little shelter I could find as I was there for the original time)

I didn't experience any of the bottlenecks, as I finished in the top 5%, but seeing the huge number of people going through 3 miles when i was coming back to the hill at 4, I am not surprised at the complaints here, but bear in mind nothing can be done to widen the roads or park gates.

The course itself went through some nice parts of south London and the 2 hills were a big surprise to me as i'm sure that the route was described as flat. Don't know what part of 'flat' is used to describe 2 long climbs. Perhaps the organisers use a different dictionary to everyone else.

Music was nice when it was present, and i know that water and electricity aren't a good combination, but come on guys. Surely you can do better than speakers in the back of a transit. It was like something supplied by Del Boy.

My biggest gripe about the whole thing is to do with the mile markers and the length of the course. Ok, not many people run to a pure racing line and there were ups and downs, so I expect my GPS to be out a bit ..... but not by almost half a mile! I clocked 13.52. I've seen a claim that the course is acurately measured, but i'd like to know what they measured it with and if it is calibrated. Based upon a combination of my time, pace i was running at (remember i have lots of experience here) and GPS, i'd say that the organisers are talking b0ll0cks if they think that course was acurate and i'll prove them wrong by using the same GPS this weekend for a different race.

Overall, a very poor effort for what could be a good race.
Date of review: October 10, 2008

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

In short: Great organisation.
In full: Great crowd support (especially with the Jelly Babies at 12 miles ... yum)
Very well organised and marshalled race.
Not all that hot on scenery, but organisers can't really do much about that.
Quick course and a good run, especially for beginners.
Date of review: October 15, 2007

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

In short: Good PB potential
In full: Great potential for PB. Liked the traffic free running and well organised and marshalled. Not the greatest course. How about doing laps inside Gloucester park ? Steep entry fee seeing that the only memento was a bag with 2 fishermans friends and a muesli bar from Tescos.

Biggest suggestion though would be to make sure it's on a different day to the Bluebell 5 miler which would generate a bigger field.
Date of review: May 14, 2007

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

In short: Biggest field in history of event and still good.
In full: Despite the non-existant finish line the rest of the organisation was well done for a field of over 2,000 runners. Great idea to get in some portaloos as the public toilets were limited, and the waterstation was at the right location at just past the 5k mark. K's were well marked out with luminous signs and paint on the road and the drinks station and t-shirt stands were far enough away from where runners were finsihing to avoid overcrowding. Having done this race several times before hand i thought that this was once again a very enjoyable morning.

As a final note to those who complained about the start .... read your course notes next time - it tells you where you should have been, and at the end of the day it's up to runners to get themselves to the line and into position. We're all adults now.
Date of review: October 9, 2006

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

In short: Biggest field in history of event and still good.
In full: Despite the non-existant finish line the rest of the organisation was well done for a field of over 2,000 runners. Great idea to get in some portaloos as the public toilets were limited, and the waterstation was at the right location at just past the 5k mark. K's were well marked out with luminous signs and paint on the road and the drinks station and t-shirt stands were far enough away from where runners were finsihing to avoid overcrowding. Having done this race several times before hand i thought that this was once again a very enjoyable morning.

As a final note to those who complained about the start .... read your course notes next time - it tells you where you should have been, and at the end of the day it's up to runners to get themselves to the line and into position. We're all adults now.
Date of review: October 9, 2006

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Enter early next year as this race will get bigger !
In full: Perfect event for me as have had several years away from racing due to injury so appreciated the limited numbers and numerous non-club runners.

Nice easy run as flat, very well organised and excellent marshalling.

Organisers should be proud and we may even get some sunshine next year.
Date of review: August 17, 2006

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