My Event Ratings

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

In short: Challenging course, good support. Too many (slow) people, bad start organisation
In full: A lot of my points have been said better by other people, so I'll keep this brief.

Wave starting is a must, just to break people up. They completely failed to do this. They should set waves based upon peoples' estimated completion times. So many selfish people disregarded the finish time markers that I was constantly going around people who probably haven't run in their lives. And we started at the 2 hour marker.

I would recommend carrying your own drink on this race. If you missed the first drink station, you could have run half-way before getting one, I think. I had a reservoir backpack on with 2 litres of isotonic drink. I used a litre, and was very comfy all the way round. Better drinking that than just water. Nothing in your hands, and take the quickest route (middle) through the water stations.

The course has a lot of long inclines, but I was so stoked I didn't really feel that there were any really nasty inclines. Overtaking people distracted me a lot from thinking too hard.

The crowds were great, loads of support all the way through, and people offering munchies and all sorts. Great.

Felt very special with the Red Arrows and Red Falcons, and the TV coverage. Felt good to be part of something so big, but don't come here expecting to get a really fast time unless you get up close to the front of the pack. Everywhere else you'll be struggling for space.
Date of review: October 12, 2005

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

In short: Fast, flat, few walkers. Roomy field.
In full: Had the sense to set people off in waves, but seemingly random wave allocation. Bad if you wanna run alongside friends, although people can drop back in the waves but not move forward.

16,000 entrants made for a much roomier field than the Great North Run, and the majority of people looked like they'd run a few miles instead of the random people in the GNR. This meant that the field kept moving and there were less slow movers in your way.

Portsmouth struck me as a pretty unremarkable town, but the seafront was ok, and the ships were of interest.

Good race for pushing your pace as it's flat and open.
Date of review: October 12, 2005

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