My Event Ratings

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

In full:
Very scenic route with lovely views from the top of hills which make the climbs worthwhile. Very friendly marshalls and a good mix of runners made for a really fun race. Could have done with Butser Hill being a few miles in on warmed up legs but it was also nice knowing the worst of the hills was out of the way! Real shame that only marathon medals and t shirts were given out as I feel like a bit of a fraud having only done the half marathon and there were enough people doing that distance to justify t shirts at least. Also, only water available at drinks stations which are few and far between so if I did it again I would take my own drink too.
Date of review: June 8, 2013

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

In short: Great run with a few organisational problems
In full: On the positive side, this is a really nice and challenging route with lots of hills and gorgeous views. Well signposted and friendly marshalls around the route too. Weather this year was perfect. A medal, drinks and a free massage were available at the end. Results were up by 5pm which were chip timed.

A couple of organisational issues though. They had no record of my, and a number of others, entry which meant having to go back and forwards to the car twice in the next field to retrieve and take back my phone to show the organisers my confirmation email to prove I'd paid and then had to fill in a form all over again. Luckily I'd got there early or I would have missed the start. Also there was no proper marshalling of cars on the short stretch of road near the finish line, I had a car pull out right in front of me which I ran into the back of and it then blocked the entrance into the finish field.

All in all a good day though.


Date of review: May 6, 2013

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

In short: Fantastic race
In full: Very well organised race that takes place on a mixture of urban and rural roads. Slightly undulating course with the last 2km being downhill makes for a fast finish and a definite PB course. Excellent marshalling and organisation. Results available within hours. Only complaint is the momento mug- it's awful and the same every year. I didn't bother taking one this time, would much rather have a medal.
Date of review: February 4, 2013

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

In full: Very well organised race with a mixture of club, fun and charity runners. Good support from spectators and marshalls made for a great atmosphere. Fast and flat so a great course for chasing a PB, though not too many other 10 mile races out there. Only complaints are they need to have predicted time markers within each wave to stop slower runners starting from the front as I spent the first 3 miles running sideways as much as forwards trying to dodge people. Also, minor point really but it would help if the lids were taken off bottles before being handed to runners. This is the only race I've done where they don't do this.

Date of review: October 29, 2012

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

In short: Well organised mud fest!
In full: Very, very muddy run, 'worse' than Hellrunner in that respect but a quarter of the price. Very well organised with friendly marshalls cheering you on along the way.
Date of review: August 13, 2012

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

In short: Brilliant event marred only by poor signage
In full: This was a really friendly race with a good mix of fun and club runners. I did the 25k run (there were 15K and 42K events too, as well as walking and cycling events). The route is undulating through a mixture of woodland trails, fields, stony tracks and on the roadside and the scenery was beautiful, even with the rainy weather we had on the day.

The only downside was the poor signage particularly in the second half of the race. Each event should have had a colour coded sticker on each arrow sign so you knew when that sign related to you, but these were missing on a lot of signs leaving you wondering if you should ignore the sign to turn off, or assume the sticker had fallen off and follow the sign anyway. There was one junction with an arrow saying 'walkers only' and the other saying '50k' (which was the cycle route distance) so runners had to guess which way to go. If the route maps for all events had been posted on the website in advance we would at least have known where runners/walkers/cyclists shared the same route.

It would also have been useful to have marshalls at certain points along the route rather than just at the checkpoints which were 3-4 miles apart. I often couldn't see any other runners, and given I'd started to lose confidence in the signs, often wondered if I had gone off course. It became quite frustrating having to stop to check the map so often.

Now that I know the route I would do this event again, but really hope the organisers sort out the signage problem which was causing a lot of frustration amongst runners on the day.
Date of review: July 9, 2012

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

In short: I LOVE this race!
In full: Challenging but thoroughly enjoyable race. Excellent organisation and marshalling, right number of water stops and good signposting made for a problem-free race with immediate posting of results on the race website.

Definitely a top five favourite run for me!
Date of review: May 6, 2012

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

In short: Incredible experience
In full: This was the first time of running London and it is impossible to describe the atmosphere. The majority of the route is lined with spectators whose constant cheering just spurs you on no matter how awful you're feeling. The route itself takes in a number of landmarks although there are a few dreary bits but I guess that's inevitable with a race of this distance. There are a few undulations, nothig serious though. Organisation was faultless.

The negatives:

I started from the blue start and there was no start claxon or anything audible to mark the start of the race. No music either which there has always been at the start of other marathons I've done.

The race came to a grinding halt around 0.5 miles and was stop/start for the next mile or so (even though I started from pen 4).

There were a lot of adverts for lucozade and Nestle water all around the course which made the signs for upcoming water stations less obvious.

Would rather have cups of lucozade every 1 or 2 miles than a full bottle every 5 miles.

The finishers t shirt was pretty rubbish and really should have been a technical t shirt in a range of sizes that you're likely to wear again, not a cheap cotton one-size top.

Despite these things it was an incredible experience and hope to do it again.
Date of review: April 23, 2012

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

In short: Loved it!
In full: Really friendly and well organised race. The hills are mainly in the first 5-6 miles but there are some short, sharp hills after that too up until 9 miles when it's all downhill or flat. The starting pens could have been better marked as they were tricky to spot from the seafront and perhaps this is the reason there were a lot of slower runners up front. Water stations every few miles which were very well run, and a cup of tea when you finish. The marshalls are great and the support from the locals is fantastic and make this a really special event.
Date of review: March 25, 2012

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

In short: Great race marred by wrongly measured distance
In full: As others have said the course measured almost half a mile too long, even allowing for Garmin inaccuracies and the extra distance you run dodging peoole that isn't great. It would have made the difference between a PB for me and a few others I'm sure. The toilet queues were also badly managed with a barrier put too close to the loos. I queued for 30 mins and there were lots of people still not in the starting pens when the run started because of the queues. better signposting and queue management would have sorted it. Other than that a really enjoyable race but not sure if I'd do it again given the problems.
Date of review: February 19, 2012

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