My Event Ratings

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

In short: Good course with fantastic crowd support
In full: I really enjoyed the day, got a PB by 10 mins so very happy and there were some great plus points. The start seemed well organised, and setting each corral off separately to space runners out worked well and made for a nice relaxed start. Although there were long queues for the toilets in Preson Park, they moved very quickly and were well organised by the toilet marshals, and every toilet I used before during and after the race had toilet paper which was very impressive! The course marshalls were all very enthusiastic, and I liked the water pouches. I really liked the big screen at the Beach Village, it was lovely to sit in a deck chair in the sun watching other finishers coming through.
Just a few small gripes, I appreciate the sentiment of not printing the race info to save the planet, but I have a very slow broadband connection which couldn't cope with a 60 odd page document. When I tried to print it at work to read later it didn't print very clearly, and it was a pain trying to pick out the pages with important info on from the unnecessary photo pages. I think it is important to have all the crucial info in a format that is easy to read and print so you can take it with you. It would also have been useful to have an overview map showing the Park and Ride locations in relation to the city. I thought the cost of the park and ride was quite high, and didn't understand why it closed two weeks before race day.
The course was mostly good and wide enough for the number of runners, but there were a few pinch points, particularly the first water stop, which was in a really narrow street when half a mile later the course was wide open again and would have been a much more sensible location.
A bit more signage at the end would have been good, I wondered around in a bit of a daze for a while unsure where to go until I stumbled on the Beach Village. Were there changing tents anywhere at the end - I didn't find them but maybe this was becasue I didn't print that bit of the race guide!
If there is any way you could move Brighton Train Station nearer to the finish my legs would really appreciate it next year please!!!
Date of review: April 15, 2013

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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: pleasant route following an old railway line and the river
In full: Enjoyable race even though it was the hottest day of the year so far. The route has been well planned, with a short walk to the start meaning the start of the race is on the wide railway line to prevent backing up early on. It alternates between the railway line and the river bank to break things up, the path along the river is a bit uneven so felt harder. Generally wide enough to overtake when you need to, and mostly good underfoot apart from one short very muddy section. Due to the heat the organisers had added an extra water stop which was much appreciated, and the race was very well marshalled. Also a big thanks to the lady with a hose pipe shower near the end - that was lovely. My only criticism is that it would have been nice for the route and location of water stations to be available before the day so your spectators can work out where to go and you can decide how much water to carry. Other than that an excellent friendly race.
Date of review: August 20, 2012

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

In short: Slick organisation, beautiful autumn colours, local favourite
In full: Last minute decision to enter as I ran the Greensand Marathon the week before and needed to see how legs were feeling before deciding to run, but entry on the day was quick and efficient. Lovely sociable run with plenty of crowd support, I like the fact that you go through the start/finish at 5 miles so get a huge cheer from the crowd there - pace definitely picked up at that point.
Wonderful to see so many enthusiastic children manning the water stations instead of being stuck at home in front of their games consoles, even the rain didn't seem to worry them.
Disapointing amount of litter on the route, I don't see why runners can't put their empty gel packets back in the pockets they came out of, or use them at the water stations and discard them in the bins there. Having said that there were a lot of beer cans lining the route that I guess weren't left by the runners!
I wasn't very keen on the protective matting on the grassy section coming back into Barns Green after the first loop. I'm not sure if it was there to protect the grass from the runners, or the runners from the muddy grass, but it was very slippery and I would have preferred just running on the grass.
Thank you to the organisers for another excellent race.
Date of review: October 31, 2011

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

In short: Gutted that I missed the time cut off
In full: Although I didn't make the time cut off and just did the half, I still got a big cheer at the finish, a special "half" momento and all the race goodies. The organisers made sure we still felt like we'd achieved something great.
Date of review: October 24, 2011

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

In short: As promised the scenery made up for the steps
In full: Brilliant race, over a lovely course, but somewhat frustrating over the first few miles queuing at stiles and having to walk bits I wanted to run because those in front were walking and there was no way of getting past. The marshalls were all brilliant, especially the ones at the bottom of the second set of steps who read my mind and managed to keep my going. My favourite bit was coming out of the trees, seeing Corfe Castle for the first time and flying down the grassy hill.
Date of review: September 2, 2008

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

In short: You need really strong legs for this one
In full: Amazing race, almost no flat at all, you are either running uphill or downhill. There are some wonderful long downhill stretches where you feel like you're flying, but then you have to run the equivalent distance all the way back up - I've never known hills go on for so long. But the route was lovely, and shaded from the sun which was very welcome, and the marshalls were all brilliant and very encouraging.
Date of review: July 21, 2008

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

In short: Great race for getting a PB
In full: Well marshalled, nice route and completely flat so brilliant PB potential.
Date of review: June 5, 2008

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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: well organised, with enthusiastic marshalls despite the rain
Date of review: March 17, 2008

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

In short: mud glorious mud!
In full: Had a fab time, loads of enthusiastic Marshalls (including some kids who seemed to be enjoying themselves despite being dragged out of their beds early on a sunday morning!), very friendly runners plus a few four legged friends. Excellent facilities at the clubhouse.
Date of review: December 5, 2006

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