My Event Ratings

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

In short: Excellently organised as always
In full: Very windy - the downside of the course is that there is no protection from the elements if the weather is bad. Luckily it stayed dry but the wind made some sections quite difficult. Took 6mins off my PB so was very happy with my day's work.
Date of review: March 21, 2006

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		20%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Lovely run let down by poor organisation
In full: Beautiful run and a challenging course which I welcomed.

However - toilet facilities were useless. There was a massive bottleneck at the start which meant I walked over the start line. The drinks were really poorly organised - there was a queue at the first one (which was too late anyway). There was no half way marker that I could see. The village around the half way point with a single width road was dangerous - with all the runners, and cars coming both ways - I saw people nearly hit, others being forced up the steep banks of the roads and everyone having their pace interrupted.

The pre-race information was non-existant - no course/route information, no directions (although being fairly local that was not a major problem for me), no information on number of water stations or when they were. Absolutely nothing to help you prepare for the race.

Struck me that it was an event organised by non-runners.
Date of review: March 5, 2006

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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		80%

In short: Enjoyed it and ran well, but could be better
In full: I ran a PB (taking 17mins off my previous best) but that was more to do with my training than the course, which due to a few steep inclines is not the quickest you will find.

I had a problem getting a drink at both the 2nd and 3rd water stations and felt they could have been better organised - the first had tables on both sides of the road, why didn't the other two?

There were also roads with cars on the same side of the road as you and I didn't enjoy running in amongst the exhaust fumes.

On the whole I would recommend it, the facilities were good and the overall management of that number of runners seemed good.
Date of review: February 5, 2006

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

In short: Very enjoyable
In full: An excellent event, including fun runs etc meant that there was a lot of people in the park watching. Course was good, keeping on country roads and starting/finishing in the park. Exceptions being the stretches on Redbourn and Hemel roads which are both busy, with some very stupid drivers (I saw somequite dangerous manoueveres). Very good mix of standards.
Date of review: November 7, 2005

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

In short: I've done better
In full: Weather was awful. Marshals did a very good job. It was my third half marathon and least favourite so far (St Albans and Silverstone being the others). Running on cycle paths down the side of main roads for 1/2 the course, and being a two lap race made it quite boring. Also felt compared to the other two half marathons that there were nowhere near the same number of people running at my speed (2hrs 10ish) which made it quite lonely on a very wet and windy day. Agree that the facilities could have been better but in good weather it would have been OK. Also agree re the start - I had no idea where it was as I was towards the back of the runners on the track. I didn't hear any announcement that it was at the gates.
Date of review: November 7, 2005

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