My Event Ratings

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

In short: Lovely race- not really Dundee, but very nice
In full: Loved this race and on a beautiful day yesterday- hit a 1:53 PB and very happy.

Pros-
Scenery lovely- not really a city race, more trails, footpaths, coastal section at end.
Despite some steep uphills, lots of good long downhills and potential to be a fast race for a lot of people, though running against the wind at the end was tough!
Well organised over all. Clear start and finish. Good mile markers and I was happy with the drink stations provided though bigger cups of water could have been nice!
Although fairly quiet, some good sections of public support- cheered me up.

Cons-
Route could have been better thought out- there were 1000 runners doing the half, so the first 2 miles of narrow forest trails were less than ideal- very hard to pick your way through slower runners and groups taking up the width of the path.
End- a bit unclear about what path to take, was directed through some very narrow bollards, not great when you're trying to finish quickly and the course is still busy with runners.
Felt sorry for the Full Marathon runners having to run through the Half Marathon finish with all the happy Halfers delighted to be done...psychologically tough!
On that note, strange to have the full and half marathon starting at the same time, same place. Obviously made the field a bit mixed and tougher for the full runners to run alongside everyone who they knew would be finishing halfway round their route!

Beautiful weather helped and all in all a very enjoyable day.
Date of review: July 30, 2012

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

In short: Loved the race in this beautiful weather, heat was tough, but worth the effort!
In full: Did my first marathon yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Weather was certainly tough being so hot and run over the middle of the day, and as others note the race time could be earlier which would help. Despite this, the beautiful sunshine made the course a lot more scenic- I absolutely adored the sections along the coast which on a grey dull day could be uninspiring and boring!

Quick course in terms of not too many hills and overall decline...however yesterday wasn't the day for a PB! Though I do know some have managed one! Too hot by far. Yesterday the atmosphere was fantastic- it felt like a lot of people were out to enjoy the sun and cheer on the runners. I'd recommend having your name on your vest- the number of shout outs I got along the way was so uplifting! There were only odd stretches with no one on them...generally well supported most of the way. The marshalls were great and shouted support too, as did all the charity cheer points, and not just to the runners running for them, which was wonderful.

Organisation good and the finish area was generally fantastic, spacious, good amenities, decent showers, toilets, food and drinks. Only thing I found hard was finding the reunion area! It wasn't very clearly signposted and as I had just run for 4 hours I felt a bit disorientated at the end...took me a while to find my family.

Though it was too hot yesterday, the beauty of the sun made the race a charming one to run and I'd not hesitate to run it again...though it'd be nicer on a sunny but less warm day!
Date of review: May 28, 2012

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