My Event Ratings

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

In short: Flat, fast and friendly
In full: The changes to the course worked well and helped me to my fastest half-marathon time since 1991! The road closures at the start caught some of us out - we could not get to the Wellington Street car park from the A1139 via Boongate. Perhaps better info next year, especially for those travelling from afar? But it is a great value race with brilliant support all along the route, especially from the children. The finishing arrangements were great with bananas and cakes on offer, and a superb technical shirt to all finishers as well as a medal and goodie-bag. The timing system is excellent with masses of stats on the web. Incidentally my sat-nav recorded 13.25 miles, usually it is spot on. Did we run too far?
Date of review: October 23, 2012

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

In short: Fast, safe and scenic route, shame about the first mile
In full: Very fast scenic course, well supported by the public. Easy parking close to the start, but we could have done with more toilets! I ended up at the back of the starting pens which needed to have a longer funnel to the start line and access to the different time groups. The section through the town centre was very congested and I came to a stop at the now infamous A4 underpass. Having taken 2m:45s to cross the start line, my first mile took over 10 minutes, followed by 8:30 miles through great scenery with plenty of room to overtake thanks to the extensive road closures. However I was surprised to see so many ipods being worn, these are normally banned. Also it was hard to get enough water at the drinks stations. The results were online after 24 hours - it would be good to include the chip position as well as the gun position. My overall time of 1:54 was my fastest for twenty years, and I look forward to further improvements for next year - this has the potential to become a must-do race.
Date of review: September 23, 2012

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

In short: Very scenic two lap route with killer hill followed by excellent downhill section.
In full: A gentle climb for 2 miles, a killer hill (climbing 150 feet in 0.3 miles - I walked most of it), and a fast and very welcome downhill return including a couple of short climbs. Overall 600 feet of ascent and descent. Not entirely traffic free although the handful of drivers were patient; the lanes are mostly single track, so any following cars could not get past easily. Perhaps thanks to the mild weather, many runners entered on the day and the start was sensibly delayed by a couple of minutes to give latecomers like me a chance to get to the start. A very friendly atmosphere and a great challenge.
Date of review: January 2, 2012

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

In short: Highly recommended 10 miles
In full: Attractive route with little traffic. I walked up the hill and still ran sub 1:30. Needs more toilet facilities before the start and more guidance from the marshalls to get us to the start on time. Otherwise the marshalling was excellent, glad we had three water stops on a very pleasant sunny day. Plenty to drink at the finish and a great value goodie bag. This event deserves to attract more runners. Why not have a go next year?
Date of review: September 25, 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		60%

In short: Great race with PB potential, excellent marshalling
In full: The hills between 5k and 7k were hard work in the warm sunshine for those of us further down the field, and the missing water stop at 4k would have been helpful in the conditions. The last 3k were mostly downhill, fast and made up for those hills. The ground was very soft for the dreaded final 500m around the rugby pitches. The marshals did a great job with the traffic and were very supportive. I finished in 54 minutes, just outside my PB. I'll be back next year to try again although I will moving up from V40 to V50.
Date of review: August 10, 2008

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