My Event Ratings

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

In short: Enjoyable 1/2 Marathon but not without it's problems
In full: Let me start off by recommending this race to anyone thinking of doing it in 2008. I had a great day, the weather was lovely, the course was good and the locals (who were up) were very supportive. I'll definitely be back.

Now the bad points..
The single worse criticism about this race was the lack of water. There was some water at mile 4 but no water at the second water-stop (mile 9). I had to run to mile 12 before stumbling across an unadvertised water-stop. I believe there were even fewer water-stops for runners slower than me. I felt pretty dehydrated from miles 9 to 12. Now this is plain dangerous and totally unacceptable.
I didn't experience problems with parking being local but I believe there were problems with the car park and shuttle bus causing the start to be delayed by 20 minutes. The goody bag was pretty dire (I hope I am not being picky). A tiny bottle of water, a biscuit, a few samples and some leaflets. There was no t-shirt and they forgot to include my medal. Thank God I had a bottle of Lucozade in my bag waiting for me. It took 6 hours for the 'gun times' to appear on the web and a whole day for the 'chip times'. Surely in the age of the internet we can get these up within a few hours of the race. I'd also like to suggest Run Liverpool spend a little money on their website to keep us all a little better informed. A link to the results site for example and a estimated publishing time would have been useful.

Good Points..
The baggage area worked like a dream. There was a great atmosphere around the finish. The course was interesting, challanging and well marked out.

In Run Liverpool's Defence
I understand their main sponsor (Adidas) pulled out in November and they lost the support of Flora London Marathon. This caused problems with organisation, funding and t-shirts. There were also unexpected costs involved in the shuttle bus service. I heard there was a mix up with mile 9's water station as runners were taking drinks as they ran past at mile 3 (although this reflects a lack of organisation and is no excuse). I also know that they had problems with volunteers not turning up - that was one of the reasons medals weren't handed out in person.
Date of review: March 27, 2007

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		100%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: The most convincing argument to buy trail shoes. period. Amazing!
In full: Very muddy. Varied terrain. Bugger of a hill.. but lovely running down it! Marshals were angels! Great organisation. Very friendly. Well priced. Soup and rolls at the end. Hot showers. You will not be disappointed entering this race. Thank you Congleton Harriers!

Yes I'd do it again (once the running amnesia sets in).
Date of review: March 4, 2007

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

In short: Great race, well organised route, great support
Date of review: September 12, 2006

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