My Event Ratings

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

In short: My second RPF HM, and hopefully not the last - one of the best events in the calendar
In full: Organization is great, the route is the best one can get in London - much more scenic than the famous London marathon. Pure beauty, no industrial estates. Endless supply of goodies, including a newspaper to read on a way back! Lots of things for family/supporters to do while waiting, and the "food hall" after the race is amazing. I got my PB by 2 minutes today, the course is flat, wide and fast. Minor quibble - you don't get your results in runbritain.com, but does it really matter compared to the sheer enjoyment of the run through the best sites of London?
Date of review: October 7, 2012

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

In short: Home race - did not live up to expectations
In full: I love the opportunity to walk from home to the starting line. I suppose here ends my positive review of the race. Oh no, marshalls from the local clubs were very good.
Organisation - looks like the company learnt how to take money from 3000 runners but not how to organise facilities for that amount. Toilets - enough said, pure joke. Queues for depositing and collecting baggage, about 20 minutes each way. Ridiculous. Start itself - way too small an area, the dedicated chunk of Victoria Avenue simply cannot take that many runners. Real running only started at about mile 2 or even 3. Too many narrow lanes and passages with sharp turns, including the end of the race (Stourbridge/Midsummer common), so PB is difficult even though the course is rather flat.
No real atmosphere - people along the course just watched quietly, no support at all. Only one music stage with a melancholy girl with a guitar singing slow songs. In Cambridge surely one can do better! No life in the start/finish area; Midsummer Common could be used to house lots of stands for food, fun, kids entertainment etc. Learn from the Royal Parks half-marathon!
Drinks: plastic cups unfortunately become a norm nowadays. What is unforgivable is that there was no information about the dirnks themselves. Some of the cups actually contained an unnamed isotonic liquid - judging from the reviews even now not all runners are aware of that.
Back to toilets - how hard is it at least to put a sign to men's urinals, to split up the queue? Or to put more signs on the common to baggagee tents, info booth, etc.? They were not were the map said they would be.
Overall I am not sure I'll be walking to the start line next year - might go for a better organised event that actually cares about runners.
Date of review: March 12, 2012

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

In short: Great local race, scenic with plenty of character
In full: The race is rather small and has a community feel to it. Organisation is good; would be nice to close the roads completely, but there was not much traffic. Two water station is perhaps not quite enough for 10 miles; having said that, I did not make use of either of those :-)
There are hills. Lots of. Nothing dramatic, but they keep coming at you. The loop is cunningly set to have an uphill section from the start and also leading to the finish; be prepared.
The views are magnificent throughout, taking in Gedding Hall as well as lots of countryside. This was helped by the weather, truly magnificent warm sunny day in February.
HQ at the school is usually a great idea; facilities were 1st class (showers, toilets, changing room). Home-made post race refreshments were wonderful.
Not much in the goodies department, but this is not whay we run, right? And with the entry fee as low as it was, getting a nice t-shirt and great organisation for a day out is certainly a bargain. Will do it again if it's run next year!
Date of review: February 26, 2012

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

In short: Well organised race that lacks character
In full: This year they had 4 loops around the rowing lake. The scenery is not bad, even with a castle in the background, although of course loops get repetitive. Completely flat, so PB potential. My main gripe is complete lack of atmosphere. No people around the course to cheer you up, marshals and water station guys are dour and don't even look at runners. I think this could be a difference between company-organised vs community-organised races; paid-up employees vs volunteers.
Having said that, 2011 was a rather nice race - very sunny and eventually quite warm (after recording -3 deg overnight). Gels and drinks were aplenty; free pre-race massage, immediate printout of your chip/gun time and position. Not bad.
Date of review: March 20, 2011

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

In short: Very good and fast half coming out of winter
Date of review: February 23, 2011

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

In short: Well organised event, the only problem could be January weather
In full: A very nice, community-feeling event. Lots of marshalls, some scenery (riverfront was unexpected), very quiet roads - well, it is Norfolk after all. The weather was quite peaceful in 2011, no complaints. A souvenir in the goody bag is perhaps not in the best taste, unless you like keeping cast models of trainers in a display cabinet. Overall - a fairly pleasant way to spend a Sunday in January.
Date of review: January 31, 2011

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

In short: Well organised event for cold and hill lovers
In full: It's December, and the course is very hilly - mostly uphill, somehow. Even the last mile. Don't know about PB, but it's good fun if you like this sort of thing. Views from the hiolls are rather nice.
Organization very good, lots of marshalls, well organized changing and showers, and baggage storage. I was not very keen on bus transfers, but they worked quite well. And the shirt is one of the best "mementos" I've seen on the circuit.
Date of review: December 12, 2010

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

In short: My first 10 mile - and it was a good choice!
In full: Very flat, and in 2010 the weather was perfect - not too cold, not hot, no rain, and no wind (rarity that last one). The course is all on the road, and there are very few cars in this part of the country. Not too many spectators either, mostly marshals (seem to be millions of them!) Organization is very good overall; just about enough showers/toilets for the size of the race. Long-sleeve shirt is nice - can get it from HQ before or after the race. The only minor quibble - queue for tea/cake at the end was too long to contemplate.
Date of review: November 1, 2010

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

In short: Loveyl route through my beloved Cambridge
In full: My second ever 10k (a week after the first) and it was 3 minutes faster than the previous one. The route is as flat as you expect in Cambridge. Half of it is inventive loops over two big commons by the river, so expect rather high grass and sharpish turns - not too bad when it's not raining (it was a glorious day in 2010). The other half is actually through town: Market Square, Clare College, remember to smile when passing King's College - official photos of runners on that straight are fit for a calendar.
Of course a "home advantage" is a plus, I can jog to the start instead of a warm-up. Definitely will do it again. The crowd of 2200 was amazing.
Date of review: October 22, 2010

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

In short: great first race
In full: The grounds are excellent, the route is mildly "undulating" - no big hills, but not quite flat. Organisation is rather good for 1500 runners this year, including parking and toilets.
Date of review: October 22, 2010

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