Latest Ratings
| 1 to 10 of 18 ratings | Page: 1 2 |
2009 Round The Lakes 10K
 | | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Would be a great fast course, if not for having to lap slower runners
In full: A flat and potentially fast course round a lake, but four laps meant the faster runners are lapping people from about half way, and the narrow path meant this involved some weaving in and out at times or moving off the path onto the bordering mud. If it's not possible to extend the course so there are fewer laps, how about splitting the race into two: one for sub 40 min runners and one for everyone else (as done in the Telford 10K)?
Date of review: December 28, 2009
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2009 Standalone 10K
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
Date of review: October 8, 2009
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2009 Bath Half-Marathon
| | Overall score | | 40% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Too many runners
In full: Parking was problematic - I arrived at a park and ride 1hr45 before the start and had to wait 45 mins for a bus. The area surrounding the start was very crowded and moving through the crowds to get to the 'runners village' was difficult. The course was disappointingly dull considering how beautiful a city Bath is. The organisers did a good job of keeping runners on their first lap to one side to allow faster runners to overtake, but I found overtaking a mass of runners all the way through the second lap distracting and was forced to slow down and tuck in with them on several occasions when an ambulance required the 'fast lane'. The atmosphere at the start was good, but overall I was disappointed especially given the high cost of entry.
Date of review: March 16, 2009
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2009 Bramley 20/10
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Very nice course, generaly well organised but let down on some points
In full: A very nice 2 lap course, slightly undulating but fast. On some points the organisation was superb (parking, the start, marshaling) but was let down by a couple of issues, namely there not being enough loos, and the baggage handling was a little chaotic.
Date of review: February 16, 2009
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2008 Bristol Half Marathon
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Top class big city race, but could be even better with slightly better organisation
In full: Good points:
Lovely course, very fast, well marshalled, quick baggage handling, generally well organised. Very picturesque for the first few miles while you're still fresh enough to appreciate it and great crowd support in the centre near the end when you need it most.
Bad points:
No pace bands within each start pen (which were quite large), sub 75 min runners were bundled in with the 1:15-1:30 pen rather than having their own start area, insubstantial goodie bag (more food please!), hard to get out of the finish area and back to the car parks.
Date of review: September 15, 2008
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2008 Bearbrook 10K
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 40% |
In short: Well organised and a quick course
In full: Organisation seemed slick, and results were out within a couple of days despite the lack of chip timing. The course has a small incline from 5-7k but nothing too steep, and the gentle downhill to the finish makes this a fast course. I'm not a fan of grass sections in road races and the last 500m round the rugby field isn't ideal, but I don't think it slows you down much and having the finish in sight is a great motivator to pick the pace up.
Date of review: August 14, 2008
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2008 CPM Thame 10K
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 40% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Not as fast a course as I was expecting
In full: The course is fairly flat, with just a few slight undulations, but I didn't like the sharp turns or the chicanes on the cycle track part of the course. For me these prevent it from being a particularly fast course (or maybe I was just having a bad day). Goodie bag was a little bizarre - a wind-up torch, a blank audio cassette (?!?), and a handfull of rubber keyrings. Almost all of it went straight in the bin.
Date of review: June 29, 2008
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2008 Hatfield Broad Oak 10k
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Slightly undulating course but seems quick (I got a PB), chip timing, and a good standard of runners at the front so plenty of people to run with
Date of review: May 26, 2008
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2008 Asthma UK 10K
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Potentially a very fast course, but organisation was poor
In full: They didn't have anywhere near enough parking as others have already commented on, though parking on the access road worked ok in the end (just causing a delay and a slightly longer jog to the start). Getting in and out of the clubhouse was difficult using the one narrow spiral staircase available. A nice course though, which would have serious PB potential in better conditions. Many thanks to the friendly marshals who stood around in the freezing cold for us.
Date of review: March 25, 2008
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2008 Marathon 20-mile Training Run
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Great value and very well organised training run
In full: The three mile section of canal tow path at the start was very wet due to all the rain making overtaking almost impossible without running through ankle deep puddles - if I'd known this I would have started nearer the front! An excellent training run though - superbly organised, with plenty of very friendly marshals. The course is nice and scenic, and at £5 it's great value.
Date of review: March 16, 2008
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