My Event Ratings

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

In short: Excellent organisation, great marshals, quick course
In full: Another great Poppy Half Marathon from the guys and girls over in Bexhill. Good organisation, fantastic medal and T shirt, a nice friendly local race. Sure, it's four laps, but you are along the prom for around 2.5 miles on each, with enough of a loop back round the park to break it up a bit and it's pretty easy to gauge your efforts. Wind and rain once again, but not as bad as last year!
Date of review: November 8, 2009

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

In short: Excellent organisation, great marshals, quick course
In full: A really well organised marathon, on a fast and flat course with definite PB potential. Mile markers were accurate throughout - apart, possibly from the first mile, as every mile from there on came about 250m past the mile point on the Garmin.

Marshals were brilliant, very well organised and helpful. Great to see the iPod/MP3 ban as the roads were open around the course, but was less impressed to see one runner from the host club being cheered on by marshals wearing a blaring pair of headphones knocking out banging dance music.
Date of review: October 19, 2009

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

In short: Excellent organisation, another great addition to the HRRL
In full: Excellent, well marked course, spot-on measurement and mile markers, very well managed water stations, friendly and experienced marshalls. One or two dangerous drivers, but that seems to be getting depressingly common everywhere on road races nowadays.
Date of review: March 9, 2009

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

In short: Good race, poor organisation
In full: A great course and well done RRR for getting it back on the calendar. However, an over-the-top printed programme doesn't make up for the lack of toilets for such a large field, poorly organised baggage tents (the fine weather allowing bags to be lined up outside must have come as a great relief - what would it have been like if it had rained?), and the flustered and under-manned water stations. The lack of promised energy drinks on the course affected me like many others - rather stupidly I made a last-minute decision not to carry drinks or gels as it looked like they would be well covered in the professional-looking race information pack. Disappointing, as this is usually a great race and has real potential.
Date of review: February 16, 2009

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

In short: A great new course, well organised and the best marshalls
In full: Superb new course, nearly all off road with a decent sting in the tail back down Butser and up again in the last five miles. Helped enormously be excellent weather this year - it'll be tough when it's wet in future, that's for sure. Wide range of abilities across the field, good encouragement for those further back as well as the front end. Very good facilities, toilets, jetwash(!) and soup/bread/cakes/fruit/tea/coffee with veggie options too including soya milk.
Date of review: February 19, 2008

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

In short: A good challenge
In full: Worth the trip up from Portsmouth. Weather was very poor, especially the wind out the back of the course, and the muddy/slippery paths didn't help either. Marshalls and supporters were very good, organisation was good, well marked course, fairly tough with a few inclines.
Date of review: December 5, 2007

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

In short: Great race as ever, with a couple of small hiccups
In full: Great organisation overall, well marshalled and a good course. The five minute bottleneck behind the half marathon at the stile around 17 miles wasn't much appreciated though.
Date of review: September 30, 2007

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

In short: great race once again, superbly organised
In full: well, they couldn't help the weather - at least the rain and cold was better for some of us than the heat of london would have been. i've been back to lochaber 5 times - a great race, excellent organisation, and a good weekend trip for a club team.
Date of review: April 24, 2007

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

In short: It's hard, it's muddy, it's hilly - but what did you expect?
In full: A great annual event from Portsmouth Joggers. It's a tough race, probably made tougher by the course change to include a long climb at 17 miles which found quite a few runners out. Weather conditions were pretty poor, and it was muddier than expected after a dry winter, with treacherous stretches in places. Marshalls and organisers were superb as ever, though the waymarking has been criticised and needs checking in future. The Sustainability Centre was a good venue for the start, but suffers from a lack of toilets for such a large field. Tea & soup ladies did a wonderful job warming everyone up afterwards. It's not a beginners race, but novice runners off-road are welcomed and encouraged all the way round, so don't be put off!
Date of review: February 18, 2006

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