My Event Ratings

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

In short: Great race, great organisation... And a PB for me !
In full: I must say this was one of the best organised races I have ever attended. My wife downloaded the iPhone app, and was texted as I crossed the halfway mark, with a finish time prediction that was bang on! And she got texted with my time about 1 minute after I'd finished which was great news because my stopwatch had packed up.

There was a rather dull 3-4 miles (it seemed that long) around an industrial estate at the 20-mile mark which was not very pleasant, but in general a very glorious run. Some areas were sparsely populated, but there were some sections that made the hairs on the back of my neck go up too!

I'm not sure why there are complaints about the water packets. They were regularly spaced, and I actually think this was a good way to get the fluid in to your mouth and not all over the floor!

I totally agree with those mentioning to book early. Brighton is Stag and Hen Do hell on a Saturday night. We stayed at the Travelodge in town, and it was very noisy indeed. The Travelodge at Preston Park looks to be the ultimate one, as you could fall out of it on to the start line! Probably a lot quieter as well as it's much further away from the seafront.

Anyways, well done Brighton. You put on a great event there.
Date of review: April 16, 2012

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

In short: Great race as always
In full: Shaved a few more seconds off of my PW10K PB. Well done again guys.
Date of review: October 21, 2011

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

In short: Must try hard on every possible element
In full: Where to start? Hmmmm... How about the start line. A relatively confusing set of laps around the track, then park, then track again. The organiser even started to get it wrong. The gun goes off and I wasn't quite sure where the official start line was.

The race itself was OK IMO. Very flat. A bit of mud, but that's par for the course. The really really big dissapointment for me is finding out that this wasn't a full 10K. If it was 500M short, this actually means I've dont a pretty rubbish time (I won't say what!). Somebody actually offering the drinks would have been nice, rather than having to slow to walking pace to pick up a bottle from the table (I have never done a race where they haven't been standing, waiting with bottles/cups waiting for you). After lap 1, I thought I was going to get pretty p*ss*d off with 3 more, but actually not too bad. Back through to the track and more confusion as the woman thought I'd finished when I still had a lap to do. Lordy.

The "goodie" back was laughable. Loads of flyers and an orange. That is ridiculous. Please put the medal in there (or weren't there enough?). Getting a t-shirt equally chaotic with the organiser doggy-paddling through them with no idea which sizes were where.

All of these things can be improved with just a bit more thought about organisation. It's the organisation itself that brings people to runs (usually), otherwise they'd just go for a run themselves.

So please improve next year.

And please (and I mean really please) DO NOT SCREW UP THE DISTANCE!!!!


Date of review: January 17, 2011

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

In short: Great effort on your first race guys.
In full: This had all the trademarks of an inaugural race. There was a bit of a delay at the start, which could have been a nasty one as there was no cover, but luckily the rain kindly held off for us.

The route itself was great. I love a bit of mud, and you end up ankle-deep on a few occasions. It could have done with a few extra marshalls. I seemed to be running my own race, 3 or 4 minutes behind the "elite" runners. I ended up missing the finish line route. Had I lost a place, I would have been quite cross, but nope, all was good in the end.

I live nearby, but this race could be very accessible to those with a car, it's just 5 minutes off the M25 J4. With a bit of polish, it could be a classic for years to come.

So great work Outnabout. I will definitely be attending this next year.
Date of review: October 3, 2010

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

In short: Great race on a truly awful day
In full: It was one of those days where you like outside and think "Hmmmm... Should I bother?". I'm glad that I did. The miserable rain and wind didn't deter many, and I managed to set a PB which really surprised me. Must have been the brushing shoulders with Kelly Holmes in the Sports Centre :)

Even the marshalls managed to get animated and cheer us on as best they could, which was no small feat given the conditions.

I had to give the Atmosphere 3/5 because although I can imagine it being much better, the horrible rain and wind meant people were doing the best to stay under their umbrellas!

One small grumble (and this isn't exclusive to this run) is that I am now seeing far too much advertising in my goodies bag. Save the trees. Please.

Otherwise, great work guys. I'm glad I made the trip.
Date of review: March 2, 2010

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

In short: Great run, but needs a rethink
In full: I have run this every year now, and there's so much to like. From the ease of access to the no-nonsense starting gun (some race starts can really drag!).

The route is pretty reasonable to run around. Fair bit of woodland with a bit of road. Personally, I'm never bothered about what's around me, more about the inclines I'm facing, and this is certainly not flat. However, I think a few might surprise themsleves with a good time if their legs are strong enough.

This year, they introduced timing pens which is great to see. Unfortunately people generally don't have much of an idea of what time they can do so usually get in the wrong (quicker) pen. I ran it with my father-in-law this year. And despite the timing pens, it got very clogged up at the back. This race has seen a steady increase in runners, and I think the railway bridge should be moved a little later. I would say we were waiting nearly a minute just to get to the bottom of the steps. I'm no expert, but more thinning out is needed before we get there.

But this is fine tuning. In fairness, the organisers get better every year, and I'm sure they'll learn from this and improve again. I will definitely be getting my application form in in good time. The fact that this race was so well attended when it was on the same day as the Royal Parks says it all... But it also says they need to watch out for a large influx next year!
Date of review: October 12, 2009

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

In short: Lovely course on a lovely day
In full: Runs are always much nicer on sunny days aren't they?! But still, the scenery was lovely. A tricky hill late on, but a gentle downhill incline from that point on.

I am concerned that there's a single-file gate early-ish in the race, and if it gets popular that it could be a bottle-neck. Worth keeping an eye on for next year. Perhaps add those time prediction flags at the start so (hopefully) people will get in to the appropriate area and not slow others down... We can only hope eh?
Date of review: July 6, 2009

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

In short: Well done again. A perfectly organised race.
In full: Is this race deemed to always have good weather? If anything, it was getting too hot. I would like to see the option of cups of water and bottles. I know a lot of people like cups, but I just spill the lot, so a bottle on offer wouldn't go amiss. However, this is just a trifling issue.

Oh yeah, I do have one complaint. Please ensure a better joke at the start next year. I swear it added 30 seconds to my time!
Date of review: October 12, 2008

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Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Very well organised, but dreadful place to run,
In full: If you enjoy:
- Racing in late October when the weather is awful
- Running round grubby back streets with cobbled roads
- Travelling by car because the local rail network can't get their act together
- Queuing up for 2 hours to get out
- Running an unrecognised distance (10 miles)
- A 2-mile finish facing a strong head-wind along the sea front.

Then this race is certainly for you!

Guys, the organisation from a race perspective was spot on. But please please please move it to somewhere where there are more than 2 roads out and that isn't called Portsmouth. It really is a hole. The weather didn't do it any favours I know, but speaking as someone who's been there when it's not raining, I know it's not much better when the sun's out!

But I must also say that the support was excellent. For people to get out in that weather and bang their pots and pans together is laudable. It was definately the most uplifting element of the race. You should really applaud yourself.


Date of review: October 29, 2007

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

In short: A superb inaugural race. Well done!
In full: I must admit I was weary of how things would go on a first time race, but good grief they couldn't have done it any better! I was expecting marshalls pointing the wrong way, trees on the route and water stations with no water.... Boy, I was wrong! The marshalls were excellent, there were signs warning you of slopes and slippery ground. There was even a gorilla giving out bananas at the end.

I can only congratulate the organisers and say I'm looking forward to next years run. How could they top it?
Date of review: October 22, 2007

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