My Event Ratings

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

In short: Cold, Wet, Windy but lovely course with plenty of challenging hills.
In full: Bless the Marshalls for standing around in the cold. I'd rather be running, even in those conditions :-)
Very well organised and a clearly marked course. Great location and the scenery in the New Forest was a definite highlight.
My first time in this race, but I'll be back next year with some other victims/friends !!
If you liked this run, try the Marlow Half.
Date of review: November 30, 2009

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		100%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		40%

In short: And I thought 2008 was tough !!!
In full: Congrats to everyone who slogged it out and finished the race. The conditions were very tough. WELL DONE to the Marshalls too and the supporters who braved the conditions to cheer us home. I knocked 9 minutes off my time here last year, so I'm really pleased - although my calves are in agony this morning.

Cons: What no goodies ? Not even a chocolate bar ?
Pros: Great Marshalls, Great course, Great organisation. The T-shirt is great.

Summary: Are you tough enough for 2010 ?
Date of review: November 2, 2009

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

In short: Great Fun - Great Course - Great Big Queues
In full: Overall a fantastic race, great support even from the somewhat bemused Japanese tourists all round Westminster and along the Embankment :-)

Pros - Great location, traffic free, flat course and excellent support.

Cons - Queues for the Loos and the Bag-drop were horrendous. The Good-Bag, was literally that "a Bag". I think they forgot to actually put anything in the bags ??? Just an empty brown bag - little bit wierd !! The wooden medal was different, but doesn't really do the race justice. The free bananas and drinks were appreciated.

Overall, a great run though. I would recommend it to anyone, just remember to get there earlier than you think you need to, so you can use the loo and drop your bag off or you WILL miss the official start.
Date of review: October 12, 2009

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

In short: Fantastic & Dreadfull - all in one day
In full: I couldn't agree more about the parking. FYI to all - the race director personally emailed me after last years parking debacle and promised me that they had sacked the previous Traffic "Management" company and 2009 would be better - Hmmmm !?!?!? Just in case, this year I parked outside the main field and walked to the car park - it took 10 mins to get back to the car (with 2 children under 5), but I was on the road within 2 mins from reaching the car). Alternatively, get the train or if you live locally, get a friend, neighbour or relative to drop you off.

Apart from the parking, I found the race to be fantastic. The weather was stunning again, the marshalls (the Cadets/Scouts etc..) were amazing. The crowd was awesome and the scenery was beautiful. The family had a great day.

BTW - they aren't going to change the starting time, so in reference to the dehydration, all I can say is be better prepared. I didn't suffer at all and I only took two drinks from the tables. One I drank, one went on my head/neck. Buy one of the hand-held water bottles and make sure you're properly hydrated before the race. Don't forget, despite this year being hot and 2008's race being even hotter, this type of weather is not typical of late September, so I can't believe it will be the same next year. They're due a wet race.

I'm definately planning to run next year and I'm definately not parking in the car park again.

Date of review: September 30, 2009

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

In short: Great fun, enjoyed the challenge every minute
In full: Very well organised, family friendly race. Loads of things to keep the spectators amused while they waited, especially the kids.
The course is nice and scenic, although more undulating than the descibed "flat". Also, approximately 75% of the race is on mainly compacted forest tracks, so if you have road shoes you'll get a shock.
Very efficiently organised and the Marshalls were great, all around the course and very supportive. I will be back next year, this time with friends.
Date of review: July 20, 2009

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

In short: Yateley never fails to deliver :)
In full: Congrats to the organisers. For years and years, they consistently have delivered a well run, well marshalled, organised race with great support. When you run the Yately 10K series, it really makes you wonder why other races fail so miserably. It really isn't rocket science and Yateley have it nailed.
I've been running these races now for approx 16/17 years and still love them.
Thanks to the organisers and friendly helpful marshalls.
Date of review: June 4, 2009

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

In short: Wow - that was hot !!!
In full: Really enjoyed the day overall. The start/finish location was great and the family had loads of things to do while they waited for the finish. The course was pretty and support in the villages was really good. The weather was a bonus, but only for the supporters :)

Pros: Lovely scenic route.Great Marshalling. Crowd support was excellent. Potentially a PB course (when it's not approaching 80 Degrees !!). Well controlled start and ON-TIME unlike many other races fail to manage.
Cons: No goody bag, just a average medal and a cup of water :(
Date of review: May 26, 2009

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

In short: Good and Bad
In full: Apart from the Park & Ride problems (standing in a queue for 50 mins), the course seemed well marshalled and the 'waves' of starts worked brilliant. I was actually supposed to be in zone 'B' but went back to 'D' to run with a friend. Even in 'D' there were no delays and we managed to run the entire way without any congestion.
Atmosphere on the whole course was great, with both spectators and runners encouraging each other. Will definatelty run again, but will book a hotel room in the city for the night before to avoid the travel challenges.
The finish 'funnel' was too small and not enough marshals telling people to move along. As usual, all the runners seemed to want to get their goody bag from the first person handing them out, rather than going to one of the extra 30 marshals standing further down the line.
Other than that, good run, enjoyable city centre appeal with good support. Hopefully the organisers can arrange for the great weather again next year :)
Date of review: March 18, 2009

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

In short: Yet again, Yately delivers what it says on the tin !!
In full: I've been doing the Yateley Race series for 18 or so years now. The races continually deliver a really excellent midweek race series. Overall, organisation is very good, the course is challenging enough with an uphill first 3kms, then gradul downhill/flat all the way until 9kms, then a short blast uphill past Waitrose, then back downhill for a fast finish. The parking is generally well marshalled with nobody getting stroppy which makes a change from other races.
Will definately be doing all three again this year. Highly recommended.
Date of review: February 20, 2009

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		40%

In short: Probably best to cut your Half Marathon teeth somewhere else first
In full: I was warned about the 2 trecherous hills, but still didn't realise how tough they were. I finished in a 1hr50 time and on both hills at least 60% of the field were walking up them !!! Never seen that yet on a road race - great training for the calves :)
The marshalling was 1st class, they were helpful and had loads of information.
Nice to have a downhill finish, just when it was sorely needed. Start and finish location was nice.
Cons - first 2-3 miles was very busy which made pacing difficult. Also, the two floods didn't help, so I had soggy toes for quite a while.
Other than that, great race and I'll do my best to get back next year.

p.s. Hope the guy who had a Cardiac Arrest recovers soon. Best wishes to him and his family.
Date of review: November 2, 2008

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