My Event Ratings

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

In short: Quick and scenic in places
In full: Definitely a good race to do if you want to see what sort of time you're capable of on the day! A nice mix of countryside and housing on the route which splits up distance very well... the marshals and spectators are very supportive. From the start it quite quickly opens up on to the open road so the usual race start congestion quickly dissipates
Date of review: May 6, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: physically, mentally & strategically challenging
In full: Whenever I do this race (3 times now) it dawns on me again that you really need some stamina in the last 3 or 4 miles with the incline. The bit around the back of the Rye at the end to the finish seems to go on forever but once you're over the line you get an excellent goody bag and medal (and good technical tee-shirt this year) The chip timed results were up on a notice board very speedily... I'd recommend this race to anyone
Date of review: July 15, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: A well oiled event that can only get bigger
In full: I wasn't sure what to expect from this race as I've mainly only done local rurality type races before and the biggest in terms of numbers weren't city courses. I can't find a fault to be honest. More toilets than you can shake a stick at, a few near the start too, though it took 15 minutes to queue I'm not sure if, logistically, more would be possible. The waved start seemed to work well, and I was priveleged to be in the front group so it seemed like going off on a regular race with the numbers in the pen. Very good medal and okay goody bag, though the t-shirt was of the usual large variety. Good pockets of atmosphere and drummers, especially along the embankment. I suspect this will grow quite big over time so would do again if possible.
Date of review: May 31, 2010

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Promising route but kit tent delay was unfortunate
In full: Definetly one of the flatter halfs I've done, no hills to speak of. Undulating/flatesque but where you seem to get plenty of downs in return for your ups.

A huge queue for the baggage tent meant I and plenty of others weren't even at the start by the time the race started. Possibly caused by loads of people misreading where the queue started but no marshalls re-pointing them. itself Other than that, good marshalling on the course, decent medal and a free hot drink which I promptly spilled half of as I thought the ground wasn't wet enough.
Date of review: February 21, 2010

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: No frills race but pb flat
Date of review: October 11, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Top local race with good organisation
In full: My second time for this race... had forgotten the middle 8k as being the undulating side of flat. Most of the last k is down hill so even if you've had a bad run you can look forward to that particular thrill
Date of review: September 13, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Neither flat nor hilly, so worth doing if you're fancying a crack at a pb.
In full: As above... the course gently climbs for about 5 or 6k then theres a series of 3 short small hills before the last 3k which goes gently back downhill to the finish with a lap around the field. For me this final lap was probably the hardest part as the last 3k invites you to run quick.

Organisation wise - all good and the marshalls were plentiful and encouraging.
Date of review: August 9, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Do-ably challenging summer xc course!
In full: Lots of marshalling support helped this first time event go off smoothly. The course is a real mix of sandy path to woody trail to flinty trail and is a continuous mix of undulations and turns. The start was a 250 metre loop where frontrunners very quickly met back markers. The organisers may want to assess the out and back arrangement as when we turned we were heading up slopes which those behind were heading down. Could be a problem if you are in amongst a throng. As you get near the end you can definetly feel the slopes but in the end they make the finish more satisfying. This woudn't spring to mind as a pb course as you take a lot of sharpish turns which probably slow you down. However, having said this, the only thing which disappointed me on an excellent day was the lack of k markers but overall a good first event in a tricky place for a course.
Date of review: June 21, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: fast ten miler to start your Easter weekend
In full: A handful of things stand out from this race. Starting with the positives it is flat and fast so a course for the pb hunter. Decent value and one of a rare distance it seems.
On the negative side it's not a very interesting course although it does occassionally get pleasant through some fields and rural areas. More importantly they play up the 9.30 prompt start but both years I've ran there was a 10-15 minute delay to the start because of the sparse toilet facilities which make for a massive queue.

So in short if you're looking for a 10 mile pb then do it. If you want an interesting course which doesn't have to be 10 miles then look for something else.
Date of review: April 12, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Yes a flat course, remembering you're in England!
In full: There's nothing like an average race to bring out the barrage of criticisms from people lol. For the entry fee you got chip-timing, bottles of drink and a decent medal. The key problem seems to be the unmanned baggage area which didn't affect me, thankfully but folk were warned in the race info. However you would hope this would be something they can look at for next year. As for traffic queues, you can't blame that on the organisers... we get roads closed for us during the race so we can't have it both ways! On the flat front...yes it is flat and no it isn't 100% flat but it only climbs about 30 metres over the whole course and the underpasses and bridge climbs are over in a few paces. The thing to do in all races is expect some kind of climb somewhere. A good race to do if you are pb hunting is the main point.
Date of review: March 10, 2009

Report this rating to the moderator