My Event Ratings

Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		20%
Value		20%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Very poor organisation
In full: Reviewing this on behalf of my wife. Whilst you can't blame the evil weather conditions on the organisers this really was a bit of a shambles. Runners were told to arrive at 9:30 for a 10:30 start, which turned out to be 10:45 following one of those irritatingly upbeat warm ups (really just a poor excuse to shower each other with mud). It also wasn't clear until about a minute before the race where runners were going to start plus the groups for different abilities were clearly all over the place.

I understand that the course was changed at the last minute due to the poor weather so things were more hilly than expected but the run up to the palace was good and the grounds were picturesque. One note of annoyance is that random dog walkers, tourists etc. were being allowed to walk on the course at the same time as the runners - not impressed at all. Not great for spectators too and the only congregation was at the start/finish line.

The reward for your efforts was a tracker bar, a bottle of water and then reminders to get your sponsorship money in. To top off the day though there was an absolute nightmare getting out of the car park. The stewards were allowing a free for all resulting in jams everywhere in a muddy field. Those unfortunate enough to be parked at the back of the field were left waiting for almost an hour.

In summary - nice course but an absolute shambles in terms of organisation. I'd love to know where the £19.50 entry fee went when Cancer Research claim this is the cost of staging the event.
Date of review: October 6, 2008

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

In short: Great 10k for the first timer
In full: Huge race with a massive variety of abilities. Faster runners will like the flat course although those who are in the later waves will get frustrated by the amount of walkers - even at my slow pace there were many inconsiderate people walking 5 wide. Good support from the locals and nice to run around Old Trafford. Nice t-shirt and medal too.
Date of review: May 20, 2008

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