My Event Ratings

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

In short: Great race but the wind was horrible!
In full: For a first time event, this was marvellous. Cheerful supportive marshalls who were standing in that Arctic blast all day. Well marked course made it impossible to go wrong. Lovely flapjacks at the feed stations, much better than overpriced energy bars.If it had been a warm spring day, it would have been glorious but well done to everyone who completed it on such a tough day and massive thanks to everybody involved in the organisation. I will vcertainly recommend this one to my clubmates.
Date of review: March 10, 2013

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

In short: Flat fast and fun
In full: The start was delayed by half an hour due to queues for car park and shuttle buses to the start. They may have to reconsider the number of entries in future. However, it was very fast, well marshalled with closed roads. The T-shirt and medal are great and the very generous goody bag makes a £20 entry fee acceptable. It would be a great course to run on a fine summer evening rather than a freezing February day but highly recommended.
Date of review: February 10, 2013

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

In short: My toes have thawed out!
In full: The uphills weren't as bad as expected but the descents with all the mud were treacherous. The tunnels were longer than expected and if the water had been much higher, I think they would have had to find a diversion. Only problems were parking, registration which delayed the start and running out of T-shirts although pre-entered athletes could send an e-mail to get one. A really challenging event but needs a few tweaks.
Date of review: December 30, 2012

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

In short: Challenging but a great little race
In full: A good way to start fell running. Not too far or demanding although the hills are steep and the terrain is varied with tarmac, grass, mud and rocks. Very well marshalled and taped so no need for navigation skills. Excellent toilets and showers. When I left my shoes there, the organiser posted them back within the week.
Date of review: November 22, 2012

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		20%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: An overpriced shambles
In full: When I got home today, there was an e-mail from Rat Race explaining what had gone wrong. Having done the Survival of the Fittest in Manchester the previous Saturday where there were no problems, I was expecting something better from supposedly professional event organisers.
Perhaps they couldn't help people without tickets getting into the firing area but if this was York's first fireworks display for 17 years, surely this could have been anticipated.
The annoying thing is that it's a fast, flat course or perhaps I just went off fast in an attempt to thaw out.
If you're going to have a night race perhaps illuminating the signs for registration and changing would help? I entered when the event was first announced but my name was not on the list so I had to join another queue.
So fed up, I didn't bother waiting for the fireworks but luckily found an excellent chippy for a delayed tea.
This has made me question doing any other Rat Race events. We were lucky it was dry, imagine waiting for registration to be completed if it had been wet and windy.
Date of review: November 6, 2012

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

In short: Hard and expensive but good fun
In full: This type of race is always pricey but there was a decent medal, great technical T-shirt and a goody bag that really lived up to the name. I preferred the section through Philips Park which was more running and less of an obstacle course. We were lucky with the weather, if it had been as cold, wet and windy as the day before, it would have been miserable. I'm not keen on organised warm ups with a manic DJ so did my own thing but once we started there was plenty of support and competitors helping each other over the obstacles. The canal crossings were bracing but there was some straightforward running afterwards to get warm again. My only gripe was the open air baggage storage. There was a huge beer tent and other marquees so would it have been that difficult to put up another for kit. Had it rained, would we have had warm dry clothing to put on, as recommended by the organisers?
Date of review: November 4, 2012

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

In short: Wet, muddy but fun
In full: Yes it is expensive but well organised, a challenging but not suicidal course and great encouragement from marshalls and other runners. The Wolf Run is the only thing like this that could touch it. If it wasn't for all the mud, it would have been a pleasant woodland trail race. The scenery almost passed unnoticed because I was too busy looking out for the next slippery patch. Could have done with more in the way of refreshments rather than having to queue at a burger wagon but how many events (on road or off) have proper flush toilets.
Date of review: October 14, 2012

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Could do better
In full: It was very well organised, any problems I had were due to not doing my research. However, to have a wave start and not let people know their start time until less than a week before was not adequate. I could have taken a train down in the morning and saved the cost of a hotel if I had known. The best thing about this type of event is how people help each other over the obstacles. There was a wide mix of abilities, When we could actually run, I was flying by my standards. It is special but there are a lot of these wannabe Tough Guys and although I'll do the ones I've entered, I want to get back to real running. I accept that there are a lot of costs in staging an event like this but £35 for a goody bag that just contained a bottle of water and a Mars bar (plus T-shirt) is a bit steep.
Date of review: September 23, 2012

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

In short: Where was the mud?
In full: Surprisingly dry underfoot considering the weather this "summer". The hills and the obstacles were difficult but not insane so very hard to get into a rhythm. Great T-shirt and I loved the rosette - very appropriate since it's held at an equestrian centre.
Date of review: September 2, 2012

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

In short: Hard but fun
In full: A tough course that lives up to its name but dry stony paths so able to speed down the descent, especially when it became tarmac. Worth saving a bit though because there are some steep short bumps in the last 2k and flights of steps.
Date of review: August 12, 2012

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