My Event Ratings

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

In short: Great route, pleasant race
In full: A good Saturday morning out - pleasant route out and back along the canal (3 miles each way) with a 6 mile cross-country loop in the middle. Great stuff!
Date of review: November 19, 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		100%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Great race with excellent local support
In full: Well organised race, great setting and really well supported locally.
Date of review: June 26, 2011

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

In short: Great atmosphere, brilliantly run race
In full: Great race and credit to the people of Hastings - it seemed they were really proud to host the event. The fine weather doubtless helped but nevertheless this had a much more uplifting and supportive atmosphere than Sussex Beacon three weeks previously.

Wasn't aiming for a PB myself (paced my wife round) - but it's still a fastish course and while it is noticeably hillier than most city events the climbs are all either short or gradual so good times should be possible.

The only slight niggle from me was that we couldn't easily get a drink at the end - got our horse brasses then straight into a crowd of milling people - should really have been given a drink as soon as we finished in a competitor only area.

I am sure the organisers can fix that though - and I don't want to detract from what was otherwise a flawlessly-organised race.

Date of review: March 16, 2009

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

In short: Scenery and atmosphere as good as ever
In full: Third time running this race, seem to knock off another minute every year. Organisation was clockwork this year, and rescheduled time and minor route revisions all worked well.

Date of review: March 1, 2009

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

In short: Pleasant run along the seafront
In full: Pleasant race, enthusiastic crowds - fast, flat course with only a couple of short climbs between the beach and prom level (anyone who thinks these are "hills" ain't seen nothing).

I see there's been quite a lot of moaning about the lack of medals - personally I feel they're a waste of space so was happy with the T-shirt. It's not like I won or anything!

Only slight niggle on the organisation was waiting just back from the front of the 1:25 - 1:40 section only to have all the latecomers directed in the front starting pen in front of me. Course widened though and I was only using this as a training run so it wasn't too much of a problem.

Date of review: February 22, 2009

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

In short: Enjoyable fast, flat run along the seafront - but let down by poor start-line seeding
In full: This is a fast, flat and straight course - so an ideal race if you're looking for that sort of thing.

The only gripe was the start-line organisation - I lined up at the 40 minute marker (and managed 38:50), only to have a few hundred people who were clearly confused about the whole thing and never going to go anywhere near that pace come around the corner at the last moment and position themselves at the front of the field in the last few moments. A few more marshals, routing people in from the back rather than the front and clearer, more sensibly-spaced signage would have prevented all of this. Hence I have graded this race down both on organisation and PB potential.

Hopefully the organisers will improve on this next year as in all other respects this was an excellent race.

And yes, the weather was somewhat disappointing but that's totally outside the organisers' control!
Date of review: October 5, 2008

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

In short: Great setting, fun multi-terrain course, well-organised
Date of review: September 28, 2008

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

In short: Friendly and well-organised race over a picture-postcard English countryside course
In full: An excellent multi-terrain race - mainly road and gravel but with a few sections through fields and woodland. The course seemed well designed to allow the field to spread before the narrower sections.

The start was delayed by 15 minutes, but it was always going to be challenging to get so many people parked in the available space in time - not a big problem.
Date of review: June 1, 2008

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

In short: Excellent race, well organised and friendly with enthusiastic supporters
In full: Really good race, all credit to Handy Cross Runners and the marshals. The course is flat and the race well-supported throughout.

If I had one gripe it would be the narrow start and the number of slower runners lining up too near the front - accepted this is very hard to control, but if the projected time signs had been a little more prominent and the commentator and a few marshals politely requested people consider their likely time when lining up, it might have made some difference.
Date of review: May 20, 2008

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

In short: Good value evening race on a flat, fast course
In full: Pleasant course, friendly organisation, slick evening race.

Only downside to it as a PB course is that it's a bit exposed to the wind.
Date of review: May 20, 2008

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