My Event Ratings

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

In short: Well, they got the Night bit right, but not the Grim or Terror parts.
In full: I was expecting a serious challenge, not a gentle potter along a wide dirt track in the dark. If it hadn't been icy and snowy, this race would have been rather dull. I hope they ramp it up for next year, because this one didn't live up to the Grim name at all.
Date of review: February 4, 2012

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

In short: Easy to get lost but a beautifully put together race.
In full: What a brilliant race, even if you really had to be on your toes keeping an eye out for the route markers. I got slightly lost once or twice. But free tea and choc chip cookies at the end, plus an amazing goodie bag including treats for the dogs all made me and the dogs very happy indeed. We'll definitely be back next year.
Date of review: November 5, 2011

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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: Amazing atmosphere, brilliant organisation, fantastic fun
In full: I've done this for the past 2 years and we'll be back next year. A whole weekend of camping with mates and running thrown in! Who needs sleep anyway..... Organisation is amazing, the atmosphere is like nothing else I've experienced. It's very weird though, standing behind barriers watching the start of a race you're in!
Date of review: August 13, 2011

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

In short: Didn't really live up to the hype
In full: After various Hellrunner and TurboX races, I was expecting this to live up to the same standards. It was tougher than your average trail run, but hardly "2011's ultimate challenge". No goody bag, no t-shirt, no medal. All quite disappointing really.
Date of review: March 19, 2011

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

In short: Lacked the atmosphere of last year, directions to race were appalling
In full: I did this last year, and maybe because last year was my first time it made more of an impression on me. But this year seemed mediocre. Did the Turbo X the week before which was over a much more interesting course - more variety and more mud.

Maybe the cold brought down the atmosphere this year - not nearly as much chatting and comraderie as last year.

Directions to the race were so poor that despite turning off the A3 at 9:30, we didn't find the event until 10:45. There were no signposts, even at the gate, just a grumpy marshal who we drove straight past the first time and had to go around on the A3 again.

Turbo X is extreme trail running the whole way. This one was just another trail race with two wet bits. A disappointment....
Date of review: November 29, 2010

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

In short: Good dirty fun!
In full: Mud, warm weather, mud, glades of bluebells, mud.... trail running at its best!
Date of review: May 15, 2010

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

In short: A wonderful muddy romp down the canal
In full: This is the third time I've run this event and it gets better every year. The organisers do a great job, and tweak the course every time to make it that bit better. Medals seem to be getting cheaper, and a few more goodies at the end would be nice. But I'll be back next year.
Date of review: January 24, 2010

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

In short: I swear it was all uphill but fantastic organisiation
In full: I suspect there is some kind of flaw in the laws of physics, perhaps a hole in the space/time continuum, around Bracknell which allows a circuit race to be entirely uphill!! More scenic than I was expecting, weather was brilliant and the organisations was top-notch. Such a generous goody bag too. Only gripes would be water in cups rather than bottles, which made getting enough to drink in the hot weather a bit difficult, and that there were no pens for different predicted finish times at the start. But only minor niggles which were completely overshadowed by all the great points of this race.
Date of review: May 10, 2009

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

In short: Some serious problems with organisation
In full: I only made the start of the half-marathon by pure luck due to a complete lack of useful signposts on the road to the event. I had a great run but wasn't hugely impressed by the organisiation. Some tricky corners had no marshalls, I had to actively seek out water at a couple of the water stations, no mile markers, no chip mat at the start so the chip times are somewhat pointless....

But on the other hand, getting real food at the end (mmmmm, cake and pizza!) was brilliant, and the staff were all very friendly and helpful.

Date of review: May 3, 2009

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

In short: Too many runners on narrow roads
In full: Maybe I'm just not used to big races but constantly jostling for position and being slowed down by bottlenecks made it very hard for me to find my pace. Definitely not a good race to get a pb. Well organised, especially the buses to the stadium, but the queues for the buses back out again were ridiculous. I'll stick to smaller events, I think.
Date of review: March 29, 2009

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