My Event Ratings

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

In short: Varied, tricky , fun route .
In full: Great mix of surfaces, well marshalled and a friendly race. Easy parking and great location - nice t-shirt. Well done Ware Joggers.
Date of review: October 15, 2012

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

In short: What a route !!
In full: The course was absolutely excellent - taking you through the parts of London that you normally only run through at the end of the VLM (that bit when you're not feeling so good and your keen to get it over with). Several times I wanted to put the run on 'pause' and just drink in the views/look at the sights.

Not a course for a pb, due to the numbers taking part - but very friendly and with good baggage/toilet facilites. Only addition I would make is for a couple of marquees for changing.
Date of review: October 10, 2012

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

In short: Great scenery + marshalling
In full: Loved this run - great range of surfaces and inclines to deal with. Not overcrowded and a good atmosphere. Nice cake too!

Special mention to the marshals and those that put out the signs - never needed to look at my instructions, despite some tricky sections towards the end.

Only improvement that I would suggest would be another water station at 4 miles.
Date of review: September 24, 2012

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

In short: Varied, tricky route .
In full: This course has a little bit of everything , road, hard trails, fields, muddy parts and hills.

Good atmosphere and nice views (once you got to the top of the various hills)
Smart tech t-shirt at the finish as well
Date of review: June 18, 2012

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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		100%

In short: Varied, tricky route on this course.
In full: A small scale, low key event organised by a village primary school's PTA. Clearly my Garmin is out of cal as it did not measure it as far as 11 kilometres, although it was certainly longer than 10k - however, as it was a small scale event I'm suprised by the level of angst amongst the reviewers.

Friendly set up, well marshalled route (and the marshals were all happy as far as I could tell)with police closing off Tots Lane (the lane prior to the final climb back into the village)

It was only a few hundred yards but the run through the bluebell wood was very nice indeed.
Date of review: May 15, 2012

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		100%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Good, but last one for me
In full: Yes, I know I've said it before, but that was deffo my last London.

Great organisation, absolutely fautless logistics. Fantastic support, smiling marshals, police asking resting runners if they're ok, St Johns doing a great job, London smiling

But, the course is now overfull of runners at 37,000 starters.
This leads to collisions and frustration for the varying paces that are being run. Spectators are encroaching onto the course, further narrowing the space available to run.

The Expo is now nothing more than a commercial opportunity and frankly, although I admire Virgin's business ethos, I don't want it stuffed down my throat - let's all focus on the running.

Finally, there used to be cheese sandwiches in the goody bag !
A sachet of salt - what am I going to do with that ?!?
Date of review: April 25, 2012

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

In short: Great scenery + marshalling on this 20 miler
In full: Enjoyed the race very much. The loop format was interesting as I was able to see the leaders coming past me ! On the plus side was the landscape, the marshals ,the Air Cadets on the water stations and the large field in which to fall down after the race. The hoody was good too - one fellow competitor stated it looked like a breakout from Guantanamo on the way back to the car !

Less positive was the distance of the car parking from the start, the size of the main hall (although the congestion was not aided by large club groups feeling the need to 'stake their turf'), toilet provision and the temperature of the showers...brrrh !


Date of review: April 5, 2012

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

In short: Does just what it says on the tin
In full: An excellent, no fuss event that sets you up for London. Great scenery and route, with a nice amount of shade on a bright day.

Supportive and plentiful marshalling - and smashing piece of cake at the end
Date of review: March 27, 2012

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

In full: Great organisation and a tough run. Picturesque villages and scenery, but was trying to cram as much oxygen into my lungs to look around too much !

The support at 5/7 miles was excellent - great idea to have the runners names printed onto the numbers. The bucket of jaffa cakes at the finish - amazing.
Date of review: March 21, 2012

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

In short: Cold, cold, cold !
In full: Course had lovely views but there were quite a number of bottlenecks which meant it was more of a 'fun-run' than anything else.

Unlike others on here, no real problem with the organisation of the race - I think it was made quite clear that facilities on site were sparse.

But, given the cold weather and interaction with water that every competitor had, a marquee with some form of heater should have been put in place for runners at the end.
I saw several people in trouble at the end, and some trying to get back to their cars in a bit of a state.

The Air Cadets doing the baggage get top marks from me. I think they did a great job, as did the ones handing out the water and the Army Cadets doling out the goodie bags.

Goodie bag contents were pretty good.

Didn't hang around for too long afterward to gauge 'atmosphere' - too cold !


Date of review: December 7, 2010

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