My Event Ratings

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

In short: An enjoyable race, well run
In full: A nice, flat, fast course with enough to look at to take your mind off the pain and some smiling marshalls along the way. The organisation was very good and the posting of results very soon after people crossed the line was excellent.

My thanks to everyone who gave up their time to make the event a success. See you next year.
Date of review: June 6, 2011

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

Date of review: April 19, 2011

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

In short: Well run, well marshalled race.
In full: The course was excellent but it was so hard to turn left at 15 miles and carry on for the 21 instead of right for an early finish. What you need in these circumstances is good support and the marshals were top notch.

My thanks to everyone who gave up their time to organise the race. I'll be back if I decide to run another spring marathon.
Date of review: March 20, 2011

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		100%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: I love this race!
In full: This is my second Plod and I loved it just as much as the first. The course was as hard as nails and the weather a bit manky later on, but the smiles of the marshalls and the support of spectators (and a bunch of very pink clad ladies at Old Winchester Hill) took the mind off the pain. The embroidered gym towel was a nice finisher's treat - much more useful than a T-shirt.

Thanks to the organisers for making this a special race. I was doing this again as a training run for a marathon but I secretly looked forward to it more than I am the marathon itself.
Date of review: February 28, 2011

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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: I love this race!
In full: It's my third year in this race and every year it's well run by friendly and very capable people. This year was made a bit exciting by the weather - who'd have thought that the road from the A31 to Compton would be a skating rink?

Well done to the organisers for getting it right yet again. See you next year.
Date of review: December 13, 2010

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		20%

In short: Shorter than last time but somehow harder
In full: This is my second Wildman. Last time was 12k/20k/6k ad that hurt enough. This event was 10k/20k/5k so I thought it might be a bit easier. If anyting, the running course was evil in places, particularly the short, steep descent and climb at around 1k.

The mountain bike lap was probably 50% different to last time. It was fast and flowing in places but also used some of the bits you would never wish to ride a bike on.

In total, an excellent event by excellent people and very enjoyable. See you next year.
Date of review: November 20, 2010

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

In short: Good race but needs a couple of things to make it perfect
In full: I ran the 10k.

In summary, a good but trying race (it goes straight up the side of the Hog's Back and through some very sandy sections) with brilliant views in places. Everybody was friendly, the marshalls were excellent and really encouraging, there was a great atmosphere and it went mostly very smoothly.

Car parking was a problem - there was a queue back to Stakescorner Road at 9:25 so plenty of people had left it late to arrive as it was cold. I left the car in Stakecorner and ran to the start area as a warm up.

Number collection was also slow at this time but I was surprised not to receive my number through the post. When I saw the huge and very expensive looking chips, I understood why. Cheap, lace on, plastic card style chips can be posted along with the number and would save a lot of on-the-day work.

The start area was a bit of a mess. The warm up man was positioned in front of the start so that those at the front were the people who had mostly participated in the warm up, not the fastest runners. There also wasn't a start lane meaning that a crowd of runners in a fan shape were trying to squeeze through the start gate.

Lastly, the finish lane was too narrow so that 10k runners, trying to sprint finish, were almost colliding with fun runners jogging their last few yards.

All of the above isn't criticism. The race was really good and very well run. They're just comments that I hope will go a little way to making the race even better next year.

Thanks to all who gave up their time to organise a great event.
Date of review: November 8, 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		60%

In short: Perfect - don't change anything!
In full: An excellent race on a challenging (but not masochistic) and picturesque course with lovely people marshalling in fancy dress and hallowe'en themed stuff all around the course.

I loved it. Will definitely be back if you're running the race next year.
Date of review: November 1, 2010

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

In short: The best big half-marathon I've done
In full: Good stuff: lots of friendly marshals giving lots of encouragement, an excellent course, a brilliant Mizuno shirt through the post with gorgeous graphics, very clear instructions and a nice wooden medal at the end. Oh, and lots of freebie food along the way and at the end.

A few suggestions:
There were urinals for men but it wasn't obvious - can they be better sited and signed?
Could the charities tent be a long, open-fronted one so that each charity gets to display its banners and can be seen from some distance away?
And could the finish be reorganised so that runner goes through lane, receives medal, gives up chip, gets lots of lovely food? I heard stories of runners being able to leave the area but missing getting their medal.

But thanks for an excellent event and for the support of the marshals.
Date of review: October 13, 2010

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

In short: Good race but very pricey
In full: I had a great race and I'm very grateful to the marshals and everyone who gave up their time to make today's race a success. The medal and T-shirt are excellent and the support of the marshals around the course was encouraging.

But I wonder why it was so expensive? I realise that the race is a fundraiser for a local charity but there's a balance to be struck between entry fee, the amount you would like to raise and the number of people you can accommodate on the course. Reduce the cost a bit and more runners means more money, not less.

I ran Farnham Runners' 10k last week, paid £18 and got chip timing, a professional tannoy, a bag drop, photographers and parking, sign-on, toilets and start all reasonably close to one another. For £30 today I got no chip, a tinny amp on a stick, no bag drop or toilets near the start and no photographers. I wonder how the organisers would've coped with rain today as the start area had medals, food and t-shirts out in the open with no available marquees.

Can I suggest that you drop the price by about £5 or £6, up the numbers and add a few facilities and this race will really shine.

But, again, thanks for a good event.
Date of review: September 19, 2010

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