My Event Ratings

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

In short: A race that basically worked despite some bad decisions relating to organisation
In full: Ok course, pretty challenging too. But some simple changes would make it go much smoother and be better for runners:
- Runner numbers posted not collected at start hall
- Clearer directions to the start
- Why does the 50k start just as the marathon comes up behind it? A bit unnecessary, confusing and pointless.
- Why have only 5 mile markers in a 50K?
- Medals and T-shirts at the finish would help (I got neither since I had to get back to the station 4 miles away and didn't even realise I'd have to walk an extra mile in the wrong direction to get these).

It has the basics to be a decent run, but the factors above meant it wasn't as smooth as it should have been.
Date of review: January 29, 2009

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		20%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		40%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Worst route I've ever seen
In full: The organisers can't be blamed for the weather (although this would be more fun in a warmer month) but the choice of route is appalling. A mixture of industrial estates, sewerage works (or something that smells equally as bad) and bleak fields of mud is not the most enticing route.

Only worth doing as a training run and don't expect to get any enjoyment from the race.
Date of review: December 13, 2008

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

In short: Fast but poor website and on ground organisation was average
In full: For such a large race, i'd have expected a slicker and more informative/user-friendly website. Plus the lack of sign posts to get to the parking or start wasn't helpful. But it's a fast course and there was nothing wrong with the organisation once you'd got to the start line.
Date of review: October 13, 2008

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

In short: Great start to Christmas and much more fun than shopping.
Date of review: December 8, 2007

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

In short: Decent run and good scenery
In full: Apart from the extra distance I did due to confusion over which direction was correct, it was an enjoyable race. Friendly atmosphere, but not an easy course. Mind you, who would expect it to be easy given it's longer than a marathon and on hills?
Date of review: May 8, 2007

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

In short: Great way to start 2007
Date of review: January 3, 2007

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		20%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Badly organised with no clear route.
In full: As far as I can tell, nobody ran the correct route, but nobody even seemed to know what that was. I ended up getting lost at half way after continuing in a straight line since there were no arrows/marshalls to tell me to deviate. This clearly wasn't the right route since I then ended up at the north side of the park.

I was even told that the guy who was leading got lost (the cyclist showing the route just decided to stop) and so didn't win or get close to first.
Date of review: September 18, 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: Fun race with a good twist to chase down the bananas.
In full: Great race - fun, flat and fast. But I'd prefer bananas who run at a reasonable speed and are closed down slowly rather than slow ones who just start earlier than the field. I only saw each one for a few seconds before they disappeared behind me.

Every standard of runner was there although not too many at the fast end as you'd expect for a charity run.
Date of review: June 29, 2006

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

In short: Good, fast course. Didn't have any problems with bags/parking and only turned up 30 mins before the start. No real queue at the end either, although I can appreciate that if I finished in a big group it would be a problem.
Date of review: March 13, 2006

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

In short: Not as flat as I thought, but fun
In full: Only my 3rd half marathon as I usually do longer races, but it was above average in every respect.

Only disappointment was to not receive a medal. T-shirts just aren't as good.
Date of review: February 6, 2006

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