My Event Ratings

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

In short: Muddy Hell!! Silly fun but needing some basic improvements
In full: My first 'adventure' race. Ok, firstly the good.

A classic cross country circuit with all the ingredients that we muddy runners love in a beautiful location.

Marshalls/squaddies were helpful and encouraging with a good sense of humour!

Obstacles were great fun, especially the river crossings! (Note to self. Don't jump in the river behind tow 6 foot blokes when you're only 5'8. I nearly sunk without trace!)

Reasonable goody bag at the end with a nice t-shirt.

Now the not-so-good.

Long queues for bag drop and toilets. A good thing we got there early!

The pre race warm up was a bit OTT, being more like a full aerobics session than a dynamic warm up.

Lots of choke points at the obstacles meaning queues formed. Not sure if much can be done about this but it was a bit irritating standing around in the cold waiting to cross a river and watching the time ticking away!

No mile markers.

Only one water stop just over halfway. A bit mean given the intensive nature of the challenge.

It would have been nice to have had the professional photographers at the river crossings where most of the fun stuff took place.

I didn't see the promised burger vans, although there was a snack tent. All in all there was very little at the finish area to keep you there.

Given that we were (happily) covered in mud,perhaps more hoses or washing facilities would be a good idea at the end?

Oh and finally, don't do this race hoping for a PB!
Date of review: October 8, 2011

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

In short: A classic trail race on good well defined paths
Date of review: July 18, 2011

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

In short: Up down up down up down up down up down CAKE!
In full: If I thought last year was a humbling experience this year's munro was a wipeout, tacking some 8 minutes onto last years seriously unimpressive time! The combination of treacherous, slippery downhills and agonising uphill scrambles left my legs feeling like chopped raw beef and my heart rate spinning off into high orbit. Hamburger Hill is my new affectionate name for this insane race! But guess what, the morning after, aching quads and glutes aside, the bad memories and 'definitely, absolutely never again' emotions are fading and I am left with pleasant memories of unexpected warm sunshine, stunning scenery, smiling and encouraging marshalls, belting along wide woodland paths and grassy meadows to the strain of the redoubtable piper, snatched humerous conversations, the complete nutter who, eschewing the stepping stones, plunged into the river up to his waist and forged across (the rest of just got soaking wet feet!) and the best post race pressie ever, a mug that changes colour to show the MM logo when you add hot water! Impressed the kids more than the medal, that did!
Thanks to Dr Rob, all his helpers and the excellent marshalls. Bugger, I think I'm going to have to do it just one more time......
Date of review: June 19, 2011

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		20%

In short: Hill - tastic !
In full: This is without a doubt the hardest race I've ever done and totally justifies it's claim to be the hardest half. 8 gruelling ascents and descents but in the most beautiful scenery and varied terrain. This is the ultimate x country run! The atmosphere was warm and welcoming like the weather, and there was a real sense of the organisers giving their all. Lots of nice touches such as Jaffa cakes at water stations and 'encouraging' signs along the way. Finally at the end a nice spread with sandwiches, cakes and a very nice goody bag. I couldn't eat a thing as I felt physically sick, yet euphoric at the same time to have finished this race. Train hard if you want to do this race, but no matter what you do, it's still going to hurt!
Date of review: June 21, 2010

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Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%

In short: Billed as a fun run but DEFINITELY not fun run terrain
In full: My second year of doing this race. This time parking was in a field near the castle rather than in the castle grounds itself. Not a problem except bit of a nightmare getting out at the end as temp traffic lights at the top of the access road made progress slow. Anyway, ignoring the fun run silliness at the beginning, the course was an excellent x country course with lots of variety and plenty of tough terrain. However I would say very hazardous for the inexperienced runners especially the big field with an adverse camber, long grass hiding tractor ruts divots and rabbit holes, etc. All grist to the mill for this trail runner but I bet there were more than a few twisted ankles and face plants come the end! My only injury an invisible encounter with some invisible stinging insect which left me with a wopping great red swollen thingy on my inner thigh - obviously I wasn't running fast enough!It was a beautiful day and I very much enjoyed running the course. Will definitely be returning next year. Oh, no official timing except for a big digital clock at the finish post. However the timer obviously started with the official race start, and it took me a couple of minutes to get over the start line, so make sure you carry your own timer if you want to log it. As far as I know they don't publish any results on-line. My summary a good quality x country circuit on a beautiful day but novice and road runners watch your step!
Date of review: September 28, 2009

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

In short: A nice flat course along quiet country lanes. Good for a PB!
Date of review: December 21, 2008

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

In short: Hlly, muddy, crowded, foggy, fun!
In full: Got there at 0820. Loads of time to warm up and wee multiple times! Was quite impressed with the 'buzz'. Not sure about some aspects of the warm up. Star jumps and side steps? Bit hi-energy methinks. Course was varied and tricky in places with a fairly steep hill at about 2-3k, some narrow lanes and tracks together with the amount of competitors making passing difficult at the start. Still after about 4-5k the field opened up and made for a rattling good run, so long as you like mud, jumping on and off grass verges, getting whipped in the face by branches and slithering on grass. I do and it was great! Thanks to the guy with the saxophone with his smooth jazz tones at about 8k, made me forget about my pain for a few seconds. Then right at the end, last 500 metres, a right little bugger of a short steep hill before a grassy sprint to the finish line, lots of cheering peeps, a free tracker bar, bottle of water and 10p medal, and welcoming hugs from the wife and kids!
My second race and I loved it to bits. The day I ever get jaded and stop enjoying it this much is the day I give up!
Oh, a tip for the que-rs. Try and find a way round where you approach the castle from the other direction. Much quicker!
Date of review: October 13, 2008

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