My Event Ratings

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

In short: Muddy marvellous!
In full: First time for this event and well worth it.
Described as multi-terrain but multi-mud would be more accurate! It is a popular urban legend that the Inuit or Eskimo have an unusually large number of words for snow. However, I'm sure Thornbury Running Club must have a country legend for an unusually large numbers of words for mud! Curiously, the RW's events page had two listings for this race: one @ 8.1 miles and the other @ 8.7 miles, with water stations every 5 miles! Was I supposed to go round twice?! Well, I'll definitely do it again next year!
Date of review: January 20, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Rough 'n' ready
In full: Second year for this tough but rewarding race. Old age doesn't come alone and I gleefully made this my first race of the new year, obviously forgetting the 'steep' learning curve of 2008. 'Rough' means basic, ie outdoor, changing facilities but with a 'ready' smile from the organisers and marshalls. Although this event is 'seriously hard', there was more than a glint of fun in the organiser's eye. Loved starting line up comment from Stephen Goulding that, although the course had mile markers, GPS owners were not encouraged to question accuracy because "I don't care!". This typified this special race for me. Yes, it is a hard race, with a top 50 reputation - drawing in some well known elite athletes and celebrities - but it is certainly not elitist. All are welcome and those that dare, win their own personal battle with the unmitigating Marlborough Downs (seemed more up than down!) terrain and elements!
Date of review: January 19, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Small but perfectly formed!
In full: I tried to enter this race for the first time last year but left it too late and couldn't get in, owing to the field being limited to 100. However, having heard good reviews from my brother-in-law about last year's race, I was doubly determined to secure a place for this year. In fact, I entered so early this year (well, my wife did it for me, actually!) that I was duly awarded with the no 9 running number! This seemed to provide some mis-placed reverential looks from innocent bystanders and an unwarrented smug grin from me! However, pride comes before a fall and I soon found that my performance didn't quite live up to the 'hype'. Having 'Slogged' my guts out at Sodbury last Sunday, I found that my legs were a little lethargic and soon found a large proportion of the small field gleefully overtaking me! Also, I was taken a back by the viscosity of the Wiltshire mud, which seemed to take an unhealthy and tenacious interest in the soles of my shoes - far more sticky than it's Gloucestershire conterpart the week before! In an attempt to avoid some of the more boggy areas, I twice ended up partially submerged in the adjacent puddles (well, actually more like small lakes!). Despite these trials and tribulations, I relished in the muddy perversions and thoroughly enjoyed myself - although to the casual onlooker I may have resembled some demented fool. Over all, a splendid race, great fun, well organised and marshalled and at least equal to the much more hyped 'Slog'. Well done to all and when does the entry open for 2009!
Date of review: November 17, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Mother said to avoid mud & puddles!
In full: After 50 years (actually my 50th birthday on Slog day), I still managed to ignore my mother's advice, to avoid mud & puddles. My 2nd time for the Slog and this year was extra special. Apart from celebrating my half-century on the day of the Slog itself, the weather conditions before and during meant a gruelling mixture of mud & lakes! Well done to organisers and marshalls and the cheery crowds who braved the conditions - especially the ones that sang 'Happy Birthday'. Loved every minute of it. Definitely a race to make you walk tall or maybe that was my mud platforms after navigating those ploughed fields!
Date of review: November 10, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Near perfect half marathon,
In full: Isn't it refreshing that the organisers not only listened to last year's complaints about congested baggage area, too few toilets, bottleneck in the castle, but actually did something about it! Result, despite not being able to access the bay barrier, was a near pefect half marathon.
Added bonus was a very good goody bag, which contained a drink, a granola bar and some deodorant. What more could you ask for? Nice touch was receiving a text message on my mobile shortly after completion, with my chip time and congratulating me on finishing.
Well congratultions to the organisers too!
Date of review: November 3, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Multi-terrain at it's best!
In full: 2nd time for this race and almost a minute quicker than my first attempt (maybe due to lack of river crossing). Excellent organisation, well marshalled, varied scenery and terrain, incl tarmac, woodland tracks, grass, puddles, mud and mud but, sadly, due to torrential rain the night before, no river to cross, which made myself, Jimmy Cliff and others a little disappointed - albeit a little drier!
Date of review: November 3, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Bristol Half Obstacle Race
In full: This was my third outing for my hometown half. Wasn't sure beforehand about the two wave start but seemed to work OK, but ends up feeling like two races, rather than one. Goody bag better than last year - well, anything's better than just a tin of soup! So some improvement there but what on earth are they thinking about still sending ten thousand-ish runners down a small alley with a sharp 90 degree left turn - this year straight into the path of a slumbering skip?! This is meant to be a city half marathon - not some backstreet 'It's a Knockout'! Even so, was on taregt for my first sub-two hour Bristol half until mile ten (BTW what happend to mile eleven?), when the circuitous city centre streets and cobbles took their toll - missing out by 51 seconds. Therefore, whatever other obstacles they though at us, I'm guaranteed to return again until the magic two is busted. Oh, one other thing, are the organisers/local council 'bigging' this half up too much? Website and local media headlines would have us believe there were in excess of 15,000 runners but the same sources only listed a little over 9,500 results. Where are the missing 5,500? Still in the skip, perhaps?!!!
Date of review: September 22, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Perfect antidote to pavement pounding!
In full: First time for this race. Wasn't quite sure how far 7 'Irish' miles would turn out to be. Turned out to be an excellent race, through the NT's gloriously mixed Stourhead landscape, that Henry Hoare II (and a number of navvies no doubt) had cultivated just for us! Good organisation ('though agree start could have been better sign-posted), with the sunny dispostion of the marshalls reflecting the brilliance from the gorgeous blue skies above. Nice mix of uphill and downhill through grass and woodland. This was the perfect race to recharge the batteries after Bristol Half Marathon the previous Sunday. Makes you glad to be alive, running in the great outdoors, rather than pounding the city streets. Will definitley be on my 'To Do' list for 2009. Well done to all.
Date of review: September 22, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Undulating rhythym on Ice!
In full: Gloriously clear, chilly morning bathed the Longleat estate in bright sunshine, which warmed the spirit, if not some of the ice that lay in wait for the unsuspecting. However, although I've read some adverse comments in the race reviews, I have to say that the one really 'dodgy' icey section was well marshalled (sadly not by Holly Willoughby!), which helped me circumnavigate it twice. Yes, 'undulating' does mean hilly but if you want a flat race, try Newmarket or move to Holland! Anyway, despite the hills, I love this race and not only did I record a course PB, I also, much to my aching amazement, secured an overall 10k PB - so it's not impossible (though if they opened the lion enclosure, there'd be a few more!).
Date of review: February 11, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Stairway to heaven?
In full: My first time for this gruelling event. The hills came thick and fast (I was the former but certainly not the latter!) and enough mud to give Glastonbury some serious competition. Turned out to be the toughest and one of the most rewarding races I've ever run. I was quite pleased with my time of 1:54, considering all those hills and all that mud. How on earth somebody got round in 1:06, I'll never know. However, my wife (whose idea it was to enter this event) didn't seem to be too impressed that I finished two minutes behind 'some old codger in his 70s'. I did try to explain that the 'codger' in question was Sir Christopher Chatway but there you go. Anyway, could this event be sponsored by Stannah Stairlift next year?
Date of review: January 15, 2008

Report this rating to the moderator