My Event Ratings

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

In short: review of full tour
In full: 4 races in 4 days is always going to be tough, but the weather made it especially so this year. Conditions for the first 2 races were pretty grim, heavy rain, hail and gale force winds. In the end, the routes for both were changed and the fields were small (30 odd runners). Even so, it was good fun with a lot of friendly banter among the tour-ists (the leaders wearing yellow vests each day was a nice touch).
1st race is up and down the concrete prom, pretty drab but the weather made it more interesting. 2nd race, two laps of an out and back along the beach, running into a 40mph wind for half of it, having the wind behind us for the other half, was really enjoybale. 3rd XC race was energy sapping after the 2 previous races. It was 4 laps of a school playing field, so hardly inspiring as a race in itself. 4th race, 10 mile road race, had a relatively big field (74) and was quite scenic, 2 laps of running south by the sea then running north with views of snow covered south lakes in the distance. Definite pb potential if you haven't done 3 races in the 3 previous days.
Overall, none of the races, except perhaps the 10-miler, are great races in themselves. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For the 30 quid entry, you get 4 races, a tour t-shirt, great friendly atmosphere, and a fantastic sense of achievement at the ends of it all.
Date of review: April 6, 2008

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

In short: well organised undulating 2 lap race
In full: Good friendly race. Hills didn't seem too bad on the first lap but on the second the 8th and 9th kms were quite slow going. Scenery not great but really well organised and marshalled.
Date of review: March 16, 2008

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

In short: good tough course, well organised but minor glitches
In full: This is a course of two halves. The first is mainly flat or downhill, the second mainly uphill with a long slog after 4.5 miles. I did the first half in 22 mins, the second in 26!
The organisation at the civic hall was good and efficient. The start, however, was a mess. There was no gun or hooter, and no indication where the start line actually was. When everyone started walking slowly, we thought we were walking to the start. It took about about a minute to realise that the race had actually started.
Also, the finish could have been better. There was no Finish sign and the race just seemed to stop after turning a tight corner. The queue for the T-shirts was spilling over into the finish zone as well, which made things even messier.
If the start and finish could be improved, this would be an excellent, testing race.
Date of review: November 19, 2007

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

In short: flat and friendly
In full: The weather can make or break this kind of race. Weather this year glorious, which made running by the sea a pleasure. Add some wind and rain and it could be horrible. I liked the unusual distance as it meant I could just run without obsessing about being on course for a pb. Slighly contrived loop at the beginning was a bit confusing. Couldn't the race just start further towards central pier? Also, the path is all concrete, so my knees felt like they'd had a bit of a hammering. But a small field, friendly marshalls, lots of lucozade at the finish, and a decent t-shirt.
Date of review: October 12, 2007

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

In short: flat but hot and slightly repetitive
In full: In cooler conditions a definite pb course. The grounds were scenic but the course was quite repetitive, passing along one particular stretch of path 3 times (on the positive side, my partner and kids got to see me 3 times without having to move!). We stayed in the Country Park afterwards for a picnic and walk, only to find our car had been locked in the carpark. Had to find a park ranger to unlock the gates. Turns out the club had only booked the space until 12.30 but we were never told this. Made for quite a frustrating end to a good day.
Date of review: June 5, 2007

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

In short: fantastic
In full: In terms of hills, hard work and scenery, this is possibly the closest to a fell race that a road race can get. Long downhills followed by tough climbs meant that my splits varied from 6 mins to 12, which beats steady paced monotony any day. The organisation ran like clockwork, I've never seen so many marshalls and water stations, and there's even a pub and a cafe (both open first thing on a Sunday morning) at the start/finish line. What more could you want? An iconic T-shirt maybe? You get that too.
Date of review: May 9, 2006

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

In short: OK overall though the start needs better organisation
In full: Weather good for running, bad for spectators (thanks to those who turned out). Course hillier than I'd expected and first 4 miles on road a bit of a drag. I was stuck in toilet queues so joined start at the very, very back. The first couple of miles were too narrow for the number of runners and I was well behind target pace by the time I could run freely. PB potential good if you start at the front, no chance if you start at the back.
Date of review: October 31, 2005

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

In short: dull and badly organised
In full: The weather forecasts had been saying all week that Sunday was going to be very hot and humid. So you'd think that a good race organiser would have made sure there was enough water. As it happened, some water stations ran out, others were rationing piping hot water in plastic cups. And we were promised isotonic drinks. No water station I passed had any. This was a disgrace. If I'd known I would have carried my own. Given that everyone knew it was going to be hot, failing to supply enough drinks is not only poor organisation but dangerous. This was my first marathon, I'd trained hard, 3.45 was a feasible target. In the end I was crippled by dehydration and cramp and limped in at 4.34. What was the point?
Date of review: June 20, 2005

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