My Event Ratings

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

In short: Great race with friendly atmosphere and quality finishing goodies
In full: Brilliant organisation as always from Dr Rob, the National Anthem at the start always gets everyone smiling and an atmosphere going. Being a runner Dr Rob knows how to put on a good race and the technical t-shirt at the end along with a mystery gift, this year a quality coaster, is excellent value and much more useful in the future. Great marshalling especially the lady cheering everyone on at the turnaround point. Trionium races are the best!
Date of review: September 20, 2011

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

In short: Great race, weather was too hot, definite water problems
In full: The negatives have been said by many, so I don't want to focus on them. But one thing I do want to point out is even with the apparent theft of 6,804 water bottles, there were 13,101 marathon starters plus 4,172 relay runners. So even without even considering the relay runners, if the theft hadn't occured then a little over half of the marathon runners would have had 1 extra bottle each for the whole course. It still wouldn't have been enough. Factor in the relayer's drinking some too and you're talking even less. The theft is not an excuse.

Positives are the course is very scenic, the atmosphere was good and the crowd support was excellent. The finishing stretch was amazing and the grandstand finish was excellent too. The medal is great and the technical t-shirt with a choice of sizes is brilliant too (unlike London this year!!) It would have been nice to run around more of Edinburgh though. I'm glad I did it, but I'm not sure I'd do it again.

Improvements I would suggest is splitting the water and lucozade stations out. Regardless of the water supply levels, the stations were too far out. For example officially there is a water station at 15.3 miles and then none until 19 miles. 3.7 miles is a long way to run without water in 24C of heat. Why not have a lucozade station in between, rather than having 2 lucozades at 21.8 and 24.2 miles, when those are also both water stations.

I would advise people to give this marathon a go to make up your own mind, Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but bring your own drinks as they can't be relied on.
Date of review: June 2, 2009

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

In short: Nice scenic half, crazy hill towards the beginning but an enjoyable run
In full: Having done Brighton the weekend before and then Hastings two weeks after I'd say that Eastbourne could be as good but lacks of a few finishing touches.

The course itself is good - it's very challenging especially with that insane hill at 3 miles, but therefore offers fantastic views and a nice stretch along the coast too. The organisers did a good job of drumming up atmosphere at the start with some music, cheerleaders, warm-ups etc. The local support around was great too.

The downsides are that the water tasted horrible as people have mentioned, and due to this they decided to stop serving it at the end! It's the only race I've ever run where I've crossed the line and was told there was no water. I managed to grab the last kit-kat in the box (and considering I ran a sub 2 you'd have thought the supplies would have lasted longer than they did). The medal was tiny too.

I'd do this race again though, and just hope these few things have been resolved for next year.
Date of review: April 6, 2009

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

In short: Great FLM prep, good organisation, tough race
In full: This was great prep for the FLM - the perfect distance (and I loved that it was exactly 21.2 miles). It's a runner's run I'd say - without the fun runners and glitz you'd get from the big Half's (Brighton, Hastings etc). That's not a criticism, just an observation. The support was good, but due to the nature of the course there are long periods without support.
I found the race tough, but purely because of the distance - I'm glad I was able to do my longest run as a well placed race though, it would have been hard to have kept going if I was just doing it alone.

My only two comments for improvements were the finish was a bit hazardous with the cars - and I wasn't even sure where it actually was as it was around a corner. Also I'd agree that it wasn't clear where the drinks were when you crossed the line, I had to ask a marshal. I think after doing a race of that length you need to literally be able to see them in front of you - I wasn't in any state to be wondering around trying to work out where they were!

All in all a valuable race, perfect for the FLM training schedule, well organised and good value for money too.
Date of review: April 6, 2009

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

In short: Brilliant 5k - great for new runners and a nice run for regulars
In full: This review is for the "Run Richmond Park Race Series 1 - 5K" organised by thefixuk.com - not the "Epsom Dash" that comes up when I go to leave the rating.

The race was well organised and run around the lovely scenic Richmond Park. It was a great 5k and excellent to get a medal (and nice one at that) for the distance. They even used chip timing, which you don't often get even on 10k's! So all in all I'd highly recommend it.
Date of review: April 6, 2009

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

In short: Challenging but rewarding 10k
In full: I thought this was an excellent 10k. It was nice running in the zoo and then the surrounding village also made it a pleasant run. Organisation was great, some challenging hills along the way which was good, and then a nice medal at the end. I thought the finish at the top of a hill was a good finishing touch - make people work just that little bit more to cross the line - I like it!!
Date of review: April 6, 2009

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

In full: To everyone complaining about the mugs & the cost - I'm also one of those people that loves to have a medal at the end of the race, but to be fair the organisers stated up front what we'd get and how much we'd pay. I went in fully aware I was getting a mug and nothing more, so I don't think it's fair to criticise the organisers for giving what was offered.
I hope a large portion of our entry fee goes towards Leukaemia Research, I doubt it's just to line the organiser's pockets!

Anyway, I enjoyed the run, the scenery was mixed and the marshalling good. It was nice to get Lucozade in addition to water. A big thanks to that lady marshal on the roundabout getting all the abuse from the motorists. She was getting hassled both times I ran past her so I'm sure they weren't the only two times. I've never seen such impatient motorists as the ones at that roundabout!

All-in-all an enjoyable race. I'm not sure if I'd do it again as the toilet situation was bad as people have mentioned, the parking took forever (and Eden Walk let in more cars than they had spaces), and it is a shame not to get a medal after 16 miles. But I'm glad I did it - good FLM prep and a 'big race' atmosphere. I'd recommend everyone gives it a go to see what they think.
Date of review: April 6, 2009

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

In short: Best Half-Marathon I've run to date!
In full: My biggest piece of advice to anyone in the future: Arrive at least 1.5 hours early and head straight to the park and ride!!
I arrived 45 minutes before the start, thinking I had made good time. But by the time I'd battled through sea-front traffic, found out the main car park was full, and then actually found the park and ride, the race had nearly started. They directed me to park, then after I got out told me the last bus had already left. I ended up abandoning the car as close to the start as I could, sprinting half a mile to the start line and starting the race on my own, with everyone else already 8.5 minutes ahead. I think they had turned off the chip timer by this point too, as I have no chip time in the results :(

Despite this, this was the best half-marathon I've run. The hills were challenging but really good, and I managed a negative-split. The support was absolutely amazing, and the Hastings locals should be proud of themselves. The help from the scouts / cubs etc at the water stations was also brilliant. It seemed like the whole of Hastings was out and behind the race. Fantastic.

I guess I'm going to have to buy my own ribbon to make my brass horse memento into a medal to hang with the others - surely adding ribbons wouldn't add too much to the cost? I'm one of those people that likes to wear the medal after completing the race!

Superb race, I can't wait to come back next year (2 hours early!). I'd run it again this weekend if it was on.
Date of review: March 16, 2009

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

In short: Great fun, a good trail run with plenty of mud
In full: I thought this was an excellent race, running through country-side with lovely scenery, even some sheep grazing on the other side of the river! The sticky mud made it quite good fun, the marshalling was good and a nice medal at the end. The long walk from the HQ to the start line was a bit bizarre - as the distance was already a non-standard anyway, why not just start at the same place as the finish line?! Couldn't have thought of a better way to spend a Sunday morning, thanks to all those involved.
Date of review: February 25, 2009

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

In short: A great race, definitely a firm favourite
In full: This was my second year running this race, and it was very enjoyable. I found I preferred knowing the course this time, as I was prepared and knew what to expect. I didn't mind the mile 9 / 10 hill and I was even fine with having to run to the Marina away from the finishing line. Very disappointed not to receive a medal though, as I was looking forward to hanging it next to last year's one, and they -were- advertised again this year. It would have been a bit better if the t-shirt was a technical one we could actually use for running, rather than a standard fruit of the loom job. But I beat my last year's time by 8 minutes so I was very happy. Organisation was great, water in bottles would have been better. Thanks to all those involved.
Date of review: February 25, 2009

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