My Event Ratings

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

In short: Fine once we got going
In full: Wanted to combine this with visiting old friends and enjoyed the day. Some people were a little terse at the start and this was not helped by the RW pacers not taking their places until 5 minutes before the actual start, meaning thos wishing to use them for pacing had to ask people to let them through and some were less than obliging about doing so, which didn't make for a great start. I thought the start was far too cramped and the queues for the loos were positively yellow brick road like! Other than that, enjoyed the run and the parks and the promenade and smashed my pb by 12 minutes!! Great medal but would have liked a better shirt. Ah well, a great experience nonetheless.
Date of review: March 29, 2011

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

In short: Dont enter for the medal
In full: My initial thought was £16 for a 10k race seemed expensive,but I decided to do it anyway as a friend at work said I would enjoy it and they were right, I did.
It offers some challenging hills, more steep than I have run before, but nevertheless I finished with a decent time despite them and the course offered a really nice forest run and of course the beautiful Longleat grounds as a backdrop.
Ok, so on to the bad bits.
I could not believe how few toilets there were,did I count only 12??? Litter bins were also like an endangered species, what were we supposed to do with the rubbish that goes with these events?
Then, there was nothing to mark where the start or finish were which was also disappointing as I'd seen a good arch on pics of previous events. The drink station was also a shambles according to others I spoke to after. Water being scooped out of a plastic dustbin??? Nice.
As it was a professionally organised event, I expected better in all these areas. It really felt like the organisers had got there late and it was all a little slapdash. That said, the marshals were all very smiley and encouraging thank you to you all.
Finally, the finish. Timings were confusing until it became clear there were clock issues. And the medal? I run for the sense of doing rather than the glittery things, but having seen last years medal which was really nice and then looking at the shiny tat on a string we were given as we crossed the line, many of which were dropped before getting into the hands of the recipients,I did consider maybe I'd rather wished they hadn't bothered. As I said at the start, nice scenic run but poor value at £16. Enjoyed the run but poor value for money.
Date of review: February 6, 2011

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

In short: Not too crowded and friendly atmosphere.
In full: My first half at the age of 48 and my third run of any distance ever. Just taken the sport up this season after not running since leaving school in '79. Finished in 1:45:18, very pleased as never run over 10k before,so from that point it was all determination and character that got me through, helped in no small part by the enthusiasm of the locals who turned out to support us all home. Plenty of good bottled water handed out every three miles and even jelly babies, my favourite!! I've a lot to learn about pace, traing and some of the other tricks to help imrpove but love my running and am now planning an assault on the Amsterdam marathon next year as well as coming back for this one. By the way, should my thighs still hurt two days later, lol???? Well done Chippenham, great day!!
Date of review: September 15, 2010

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