My Event Ratings

Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		20%
Organisation		40%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: When is a chip not a chip . . .
In full: . . . when there's no starting mat!!!
My official time was 30 seconds more than my watch time - what was the point in having the chip if it's made redundant by the lack of a starting mat.
Only good thing about this race was the friendly marshalls along the way - a big thanks to them.
Date of review: November 21, 2011

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Overall score		20%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		60%
Atmosphere		20%
Organisation		20%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		40%

In short: Organisers didn't seem to care . . .
In full: Travelled down from Glasgow for this race. After a long drive down on the Saturday, we turned up at the course to check it out. The organisers were putting up signs on the course so we asked for directions around the route - we got a rather dismissive 'just follow the road' reply.
Sunday was so hot that I had to pull out after 18 miles - again the organisers were very uncaring and unhelpful. Okay, so they couldn't do anything about the weather - but perhaphs if they had allowed runners to spend 10 minutes in the shade after each lap a number of runners who dropped out could at least have had the satisfaction of completing the race. Instead the organisers insisted on applying there normal cut-off time - making it inachievable for many in the sweltering heat. Bad show guys - being a small run I expected friendly organisers - perhaps you were suffering from heatstroke too!!! ((NOTE: At least the runners were friendly and we all shared a good few moans about the sun))
Date of review: October 4, 2011

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

In short: Don't listen to scary stories about hills - this race has great PB potential
In full: I have run 14 marathons - 5 of them being at Loch Ness. My 3 best times are at Loch Ness. Basically you roll downhill for 12 miles - have a wee mole hill around 18 miles then a pleasant canter along the river to the finish line. No problem! Well almost no problem. So, if you want a PB sign up for next year's race :)
Date of review: October 4, 2011

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

In short: The End of a Marathon
In full: Rather than repeat what has already been said here are some statistics from the ratings since 2003 (note - 2011 based on first 20 ratings):

Overall Score: Early years this averaged 80% - this year an all time low of 47%

How many would do it again: 93% in 2003 - 96% in 2006 - just 31% in 2011

Organisation: 82% in 2007 - this years 30% is even lower than the awful 2009 - 'A big boy took our water and ran away' year

Message to the Organisers:
We want a marathon that Scotland can be proud of.
We want a marathon that shows off our beautiful city.
We want a marathon that attracts international runners of all ability
We want every runner to go home feeling that everything has been done to make their day one to remember.

The runners and spectators in this years marathon feel let down by the organisers and, in the words of Flower of Scotland, have "sent them homeward, Tae think again."

Please go away and think - let's make next year the best marathon ever.
Date of review: May 23, 2011

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