My Event Ratings

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		100%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: hard as nails
In full: Ran this last year as well, both times completing the marathon course. This time I think somehow they have managed to make it even tougher! I have run most of the endurancelife CTS courses and I believe this is the hardest one they run and also probably the hardest marathon course I have ever run, so well done to everyone running this as their first trail event!! If you take a look at the finishing times it will give you the general idea, I am a 3hr marathon runner on the flat and it took me 5 and a half hours! There really are some very steep cliffs/hills here and although the conditions on the day were spot on, the course was very muddy in places due to all the recent rain, this made it hard for those of us at the front of the field and probably even worse for those at the back. The scenary was spectacular though and you really felt privileged to run in such a beautiful part of the country.

I have been running the endurancelife events for 3 years now and they have certainly got a lot busier than they were previously. Fortunately they are still extremely well organised so(for the marathon at least) I still found I could turn up half an hour before the race, park quickly, pick up my number and go to the loo without having to queue for ages and then run the race without tripping over too many people all the time (even while the number of runners at the event increasing from 600 to over a 1000 this year) This is why I like running in their events and will probably continue to pay the steep prices. I do think there could be scope to reduce the prices given the sudden increase in popularity (and revenue!) of these races.

I don't think you can criticise the organisers for the length of the course, this is a trail event and certainly not a pb course, they do warn you in the event briefing that the course isn't exact and they give you 'a bit extra'. Personally I quite like the medals they give out as well, I will continue to run in the cts events - they offer something a little bit different from the norm.
Date of review: December 10, 2012

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

In short: Tough but very rewarding
In full: This was my second Beachy and this year was very different to last but still an incredibly enjoyable race. Took it a lot easier last year so gained an appreciation this year for just how tough this race is. It's still my favourite race though, big enough to make it feel like a real event, but small and well organised enough to make it run extremely smoothly. Plus you get to run the whole race almost entirely offroad in some of the most beautiful scenary the South has to offer. Needs to be done - make sure you leave enough in the tank for the last 8 miles though!
Date of review: October 26, 2009

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