My Event Ratings

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

In short: Very well organised and a nice, scenic course
In full: Really well organised and pretty good value compared to most half marathons. Not many races where you get a good quality "technical" running shirt, free energy gels and energy drinks at the finish and at some drink stations along the course. I was expecting a bit of chaos with everyone collecting their number and chip on the day but it was really well organised. Excellent job by Full Boar Events and all the volunteers. The course was hillier and tougher than I remembered but I think I'm just getting older! The "Gated Road" climb up to Market Bosworth seemed to go on forever!
Date of review: May 14, 2013

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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		80%

In short: Quite hilly but scenic course.. well organised
In full: This was my first full marathon but I thought it was pretty good value to be honest. Around £20/£22 (if i remember rightly?) seems to be quite cheap for a full marathon these days and that included a t-shirt, medal and a bit of a goody bag, chip timing... and drinks around the course. The 2nd lap was a bit lonely at times but most of the marshalls offered great encouragement. Lets not forget they're volunteers who have to just stand there for hours. The course was quite undulating but it was more lots of steady short-ish hills. No big long steep hills really. Lovely area with some nice villages connected by these winding country lanes.. excellent running/cycling territory! Difficult running past lots of nice looking pubs with sun-drenched beer gardens!!
Date of review: April 16, 2012

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

In short: Tough hills, nice setting and well organised for a good cause
In full: Despite doing a lot of my training over Baggeridge I still found this race tougher than expected. My thighs are still aching! Well worth doing this one for the atmosphere and scenery just don't expect a PB!
Date of review: June 27, 2011

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

In short: Another well organised event, flat and fast.
In full: Flat and fast 2 lap course with an out and back section, well organised. The path is quite narrow in places especially with dog walkers and runners heading in both directions but that shouldn't really be a problem should it?

Only personal let down for me was the complete lack of common sense from one runner on the out and back section. If you really want to stop and "high-five" power walkers who are being lapped then at least have the common sense and decency to get out of the way of quicker runners heading in the opposite direction. The guy in question looked like "a runner" and plenty old enough to know better. I guess one out of 600 - 800 isn't a bad ratio though!

Anyway, good job from the organisers and marshals again though and excellent value every year.
Date of review: January 24, 2011

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

In short: Tough but a special event!
Date of review: November 22, 2010

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

In short: Half-decent event in the end but wouldn't have entered if not for inaccurate details on RW website
In full: I've never organised a race (and never will)but I can imagine there's a lot of hard work and planning that goes into it behind the scenes... a pretty thankless task. So I'll try and be as fair as possible.

I entered on the basis of the usually reliable race details on the Runners World website which turned out to be completely inaccurate. After paying £14 for basically a park-run (+ tshirt, medal and pizza leaflets) I felt a bit conned. Especially as it was cheaper to enter on the day. Even if you entered in advance you still have to collect your number on the day so there's absolutely no benefit of entering in advance.

The event itself was ok, fairly small turn out. I found the 4 lap multi-terrain course very tedious even though it was in a nice enough setting especially when it was supposed to be a road race according to the race details on RW. I think the potential is there for next year as long as people know what they're getting and it's advertised correctly.




Date of review: November 1, 2010

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

In short: Well organised, nice local event
In full: Seemed very well organised and just a nice sized event, not too big & not too small. Good support along the course. A few long and steady hills but nothing too bad. Even if at the start they put time zones up a lot of people ignore them anyway... there's always going to be some slower runners / walkers short of common sense.
Date of review: September 8, 2010

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

In short: Very enjoyable event, nice scenic route and very good local support en route
In full: Hopefully this will be back on the calendar next year. Really nice course (there was a link to the course profile on the website showing where the hills were). Not flat but not particularly hilly either. Good support along the route so thanks to the locals for that and also the marshalls who gave up their free time. Difficult at times running past nice country pubs on such a lovely morning... gasping for a pint at The Bell in Trysull (but I think it was closed anyway!)

My Garmin 405 clocked the distance as 12.55 miles but I started it a bit late due to it reverting to 'time mode' as we were about to start!
Date of review: June 21, 2010

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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		100%

In short: Well organised and good atmosphere
In full: Really good event, scenic course, nice size field (not too big but big enough). Thanks to all the volunteers especially at the drinks stations trying to collect all the discarded plastic cups littered around.

There were plenty of drinks (and jellybeans!) at the finish but I too managed to walk straight past them until someone pointed me in the right direction.

A couple of challenging long hills near the end (not steep just long and gradual) but plenty of encouragement especially approaching Market Bosworth.
Date of review: May 12, 2010

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

In short: Good atmosphere, hilly course.... well organised except the 'start' was a shambles!
Date of review: February 28, 2010

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