My Event Ratings

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

In short: The worst organisation EVER
In full: I did this race about four years ago and remember it for its bad organisation but ventured back thinking it couldn't possibly be as bad....could it?? On the plus side there was chip timing. This was handy since there were no timing signs to indicate where people should be starting in the queue and quite clearly slower runners were cheerfully standing ahead of the faster ones causing congestion at the start. Mind you the queue for the start was shorter than it should have been since most people were still waiting in the toilet queues when the race went off. We would have been there earlier but there were no signs for the car parking and consquently along with lots of other people queued down the wrong road and then back out again. The baggage store was unmanned and there were some strange A4 bits of paper taped to the wall with letters on - presumably there was some kind of system intended rather than the bedlam that occured? Nice water bottles en route but perhaps they could have taken the tops off at the final one. I gather the luxozade at the middle station ran out well before the final runners as well. The marshalls however appeared to be mute and certainly I noticed a few road crossings where there were none to be seen?? My husband was part of the large group that managed to take a detour and did an extra mile. After all that they couldn't be bothered to take the medal out of the plastic bag. Nor could I.
Date of review: March 8, 2009

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

In short: Apart from the baggage store a charming race!
In full: Alas I had to abandon my bag with my husband who was still queuing when the race started. Afterwards finding my bag was not easy...Otherwise it was charming as usual although it might have been nice for the water stations to have been more manned - I had to help myself. Lovely atmosphere but who invited the wind???
Date of review: March 3, 2008

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

In short: I ran all that way for a cup of water???
In full: Parking was interesting - we got invited to park on the side of a roundabout. Small hike to the start and there were clearly not enough toilets judging by the size of the queue.
The race itself was well marshalled although the repeat of part of the course abit dire. Traffic seemed a problem. I was quite upset at the end to be presented with a glass of water - a banana would have been a gesture.
Didn't realise there were t-shirts (noted small sign in hall) but apparently despite them saying "finisher" they had been mostly given out before the race. I ended up with XL which comes down to my ankles so will probably be reduced to a duster. My clubmate went home without one not realising they were even there. The organisers should ask themselves just how many XL 20 mile runners there are?? Would probably do again but just because it is good training for London.
Date of review: April 2, 2007

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

In short: What goes up must come down!
In full: I had a fab race - did a PB despite the weather. I recall enjoying it last year despite an injury. I think the organisers did take heed of last years comments - the bag storage and portaloos were noted. However, somewhere to change would have been nice (I pulled my wet stuff off in front of everyone in the bar - sorry!) and I agree an earlier start would be better. If the weather hadn't been so poor I think alot more people would have discovered the Red Bull and bananas. Thank you to the poor wet marshalls who braved the elements.
Date of review: March 7, 2007

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

In short: Evil Hills.............
In full: Definitely challenging! A shame about the bottleneck for the first mile or so since you will never know whether the hills are the reason for your slow time or not.....!! Very friendly and thank you to the marshalls for the music. Nice t-shirt. Interesting changing facilities - they did say they were limited! Thank you to the sun for coming out.
Date of review: November 7, 2006

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

In short: God I had forgotten those hills.....
In full: Back again to try to beat last years time. As I got to mile 5 and was still going uphill realised why my time was so slow....having said that I got a PB!! Could have done with a water station a little earlier and its a shame I won't be able to wear my t-shirt since they all came up large but the bag was nice and the efforts put in by the organisers appreciated. Nice atmosphere. Must say thanks to the white van who pulled right out in the middle of a crowd of runners without a care in the world at the beginning of the race - wouldn't be the same without you.
Date of review: October 30, 2006

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

In short: Definitely one to exercise those leg muscles!
In full: I would firstly like to thank the man who, so intent on passing people in front of him, flung a branch back at me catapult fashion. I have a lovely bruise on my arm and I am sure the people behind me appreciated the gesture also. I see that in 2004 I described the course as mundane - the scenery and the two lap course are a little tedious - the hills do make you work but it is a shame about the queue up the little hill at the very beginning. The organisation was much better this time - no hanging about in the funnel at the end and well marshalled. I had a lovely swim in the heated pool. Will be back.
Date of review: August 22, 2006

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

In short: Ah the hill - such fond memories!
In full: We couldn't have wished for better weather. Good organisation, nice goody bag and t-shirt (although the medium drowns me!!). Seemed to be more traffic about that normal but perhaps that was the rain. They do need to do something about the queue for the loos at the beginning though!!
Date of review: July 12, 2006

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

In short: What happened at the finish???
In full: It started promisingly although there appeared to be no supervised baggage storage as far as I could see? Marshalling was good although some of the teenagers were rather "enthusiastic" and standing in the middle of the course. Nice day, surprisingly nice scenery - unexpected for Milton Keynes. But what happened at the end?? When we finished there was a queue of runners queuing back past the finishing line. We were made to stand around for about 10 minutes in no apparent order for no apparent reason? It was be very interesting to see what official time I have ended up with???!
Date of review: March 13, 2006

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

In short: Wot no car parking???
In full: As with last year all the car parks were full and we had to park (sorry!) outside someones house quite a walk away. The race itself was lovely I have to say (got a PB!) but it was a little messy where you come over the line and no-one knows where to go for t-shirts/drinks. It would be nice to have had a bag storage in the park since although it was a beautiful day it cooled down very quickly. Very disappointed however it is Tuesday morning and there is no sign of the results!!??
Date of review: February 7, 2006

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