My Event Ratings

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

In full: Very good race, conditions were very good & fairly flat. Glad to do a marathon again with carryable water/Powerade (though runners need to be educated that Powerade is for drinking and carrying - not throwing away after 1 drink) and at just the right places. There will always be a few issues: eg Water pouches were inconsistent but could still be used; arrived at Park & Ride before 7:30 but bus didn't leave until after 8:15 and there were plenty still waiting for the next bus; tight course and plenty of slow runners early on. Overall a very enjoyable day!
Date of review: May 4, 2012

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

In full: Great to run on a course without steep hills. Well organised. Band was great and enough encouragement from stewards and public on a cold day. A bit congested when running on the paths (too many runners for running on paths wide enough for 2-3 runners?) - had to run on the road quite a bit to overtake as I was doing a -ve split, so airfield sections were great for running at my chosen pace plus plenty of room for good water stations. Not there for the scenery but wasn't boring!

Pre & post massages were great. Long queues for main loos just before race - much shorter in changing rooms. My 1st "half" - hope to be back next year!
Date of review: November 22, 2010

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

In short: Killer hills
In full: Beautiful scenery, well marshalled, good facilities at the recreation ground meeting point, helpful volunteers at water stations, friendly supportive locals but killer hills! Going well and comfortably until 16-17 miles when 1st killer hill struck - long and very steep and my legs had gone before reaching the top, leading to severe backache afterwards. Too stiff to benefit from downhill stretches afterwards and with more steep climbs to come made it a very painful final third. Much tougher than the hills on my long training runs! If you're not good with hills, beware!

Massages for £5 at the end (10 minutes) were excellent - I had a double session which worked wonders.

Didn't realise until too late that if you stopped at a water station, they had a jug to fill up bottles - open plastic cups aren't that much use if you want to keep running. Although I took a cup at every stop and drank what I could while running, I still became dehydrated. The bottle refils later on helped but by then it was too late! Sports bottles at drink stops would really help and it would be worth paying extra for the race.
Date of review: September 27, 2010

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