My Event Ratings

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

In short: Finally a race for Birmingham to be proud of.
In full: I have run all of the previous Birmingham Half Marathons but was disillusioned in some ways as the race organisation showed little sign of improvement. However, with this, my faith in big races has been restored. The organisation was seamless. The support from the crowds was great and it was fantastic to watch the TV coverage when I got home and see Haile running around the park where I am for parkrun most weekends.
Yes, there is a hill to climb coming back into the city centre but I don't really see how it can be avoided and hills do add variety to the course.
Date of review: October 25, 2011

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

In short: A great marathon - I expect to be back next year.
In full: Everything about the organisation of this race was well done, starting from the friendly emails that I got at intervals from when I entered to the incredibly smooth way that the finish area way organised. A really nice place to run a marathon. And yes, there is a hill coming back into the city but over the course of 26 miles, I don't think that is too bad. It is still a flat course.
Date of review: October 17, 2011

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

In short: Not easy but well worth the trip over!
In full: Well organised, well marshalled, great course, hard work. Well worth travelling over for. Will be back again, fitter and faster next year.
Date of review: February 28, 2010

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

In short: I love this race! One everyone should do.
In full: Friendly, low key, well organised with a course that is so much fun, I would do it again tomorrow. Everyone within driving distance should have a go a this race.
Date of review: November 15, 2009

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

In short: Not perfect but getting there!
In full: After a disappointing debut last year, this was a massive improvement. The course was much improved and it felt like a Birmingham Half Marathon, rather than an A34 Half Marathon! Fantastic crowd support made this a memorable race and I can't wait for next year. The organisation at the start was still chaotic and some sort of marshall control is needed to ensure that people go to their correct start zones, not only so that they do not slow the faster runners but also for their own safety. The finish area would also have benefitted from a few finishing funnels to keep everyone moving in the same direction.
Date of review: October 12, 2009

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

In short: A good preparation for spring marathons
In full: The race itself was fine although pre-race instructions were minimal.
In terms of post race organisation there was very little.
It was difficult to know where the finish line actually was. The pre-race information mentioned good value refreshments before, during and after the event! I never saw any of these. After a very cold run in appalling conditions, it would have been welcome.
Date of review: March 9, 2009

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

In short: Nice race, very well marshalled.
In full: My first pudding run, reasonable course with a few ups and downs but nothing too painful. Excellent organisation all round from before the start to after the finish. I shall certainly be back.
Date of review: December 14, 2008

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

In short: Fun race if you like mud, water and hills.
In full: A very varied course with steep hills, mud, deeply sticky clay, river crossing and a near vertical stair climb. Definitely worth doing.
Date of review: November 16, 2008

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

In short: A really good, well organised race that has benefitted from it's move to autumn.
In full: This race will certainly be one that I look forward to in the future. Although the field is small, there is a good range of abilities it is excellently organised by Halesowen AC. The course, which when run last summer was hard packed mud was today deep gloopy mud. Maybe not to everyones taste but it certainly made my day. After the race, the facilities were good and the results were processed and displayed with alarming efficiency. There was only one negative point: when am I ever going to want to wear a bright yellow baseball cap! The bright yellow shoe bag from last year was much more useful!
Date of review: November 2, 2008

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

In short: An okay race with some suspect organisation at times.
In full: The first strange thing was that although this race was chip timed, the chips were not sent out with the numbers and had to be collected on the day. This led to huge queues with only minutes left to the start of the race.

The organisation of the start was not good. It seemed that it was still being set up when we arrived in the area with only 20 minutes to go till the start. Added to that, there were no indicators of where the start was from the assembly area.

The water stations were chaotic. There was no one there for the first one so the runners had to stop and take a bottle of water out of the packaging themselves.

The finish was very twisty and windy and the last bit that went around the rugby pitch was most unwelcome.

It is a reasonable event but does not have the level of organisation that I would expect from a professional organising company.
Date of review: May 11, 2008

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