My Event Ratings

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

In short: Utterly superb - a cracking little event
In full: I have nothing but praise for Relish Running Races first event at Killerton House in Devon. The organisation was superb, with plenty of marshalls to ensure you did not get lost on a very twisty-turny route that kept you guessing at every turn. It was hillier than I expected (nearly 1200ft total climb over 10k distance) and after the loop around the first field at the start there no more flat sections at all. The hills were not long, but very steep! No fast times on offer but that's not what this event is about. It's about enjoying a lovely run through the beautiful grounds of Killerton estate. Running through woodland tracks strewn with bluebells was a real joy. The finishers medal was the best I've had (beats my marathon medals!), with a colourful image of Killerton House on the front.
Great event village with ample toilets, convenient parking and good value refreshments. Lots of races on offer - 300m for kids, 5k, 10k and half mara. Fantastic event. Really hope to see it back on the calendar again next year. Try it: you won't be disappointed!
Date of review: May 13, 2013

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

In short: Hip(po) hip(po) horray!
In full: What a cracking little race! Ticks all the right boxes for anyone looking for a small, fun, friendly, challenging, scenic, well organised race. Great route that kept you guessing throughout with "thoughtful"(!) touches, such as the muddy crawl under a cargo net in Landrover Experience, the waist deep muddy sump, the chest deep river crossing, the piles of grit to jump across and the lovely meander through a primrose and daffodil strewn garden. Cannot fault the organisation - everything from the signage to the provision of changing facilities, post-race massage and superb quality refreshments for a donation all helped to make this race shoot to the top of my all-time favourite off road runs. Thanks - will be back next year!
Date of review: April 17, 2013

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

In short: What a cracking event!
In full: A truly amazing event that was superbly well organised from the moment you signed up until the moment you left the race venue after the race. Great atmosphere, good value for money (only £1 per mile, which includes the coach to the start line, support on route, a finishers' tee-shirt and the use of the facilities at race HQ. Camping was also optional at race HQ for the bargain price of £5 per night.
Excellent catering on site, good entertainment after the race, lovely views from the camp site.
Finally, to the race itself. Tough - brutally tough! But a stunning route with stunning scenery to take your mind off the pain (if you could look up from the floor without losing your footing that is!)
This year it was a very wet and muddy course and even in trail shoes I was slipping and sliding on the steep sections. Mud Claws or Fell shoes would have been the best choice of footwear.
Self-nav but you cannot go wrong as there are signs in all the key places.
3 distances to choose from, with the hardest miles being the last 5 miles, so all routes were fairly tough, Get your hill training in and get signing up for next year!
Date of review: August 19, 2012

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

In short: 2nd time doing this race, 2 times the fun!
In full: A cracker of a marathon. Did it last year and enjoyed it, though went off too hard and blew up halfway round, so wanted to come back this year and experience it again in slightly less pain! Loved every minute of this year's race. Upping the entry limit to 400 worked well as last year I pretty much was on my own the whole way round, but this year I had lots of lovely people to chat to (my new Chard Running Club buddies!!).
Superbly well organised; loads of water and sponge stations, 2 personal drinks stations and jelly baby stations too!! Good support from the villagers on route. Lovely route - constantly undulating but no major climbs. You won't be too far outside your PB on this course.
Merci à Innès (et à Gillingham Trotters) encore une fois pour avoir organisé un marathon fantastique!!
Date of review: May 8, 2012

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

In short: Marshalling lessons learnt from last year?... Almost.
In full: Great venue - start and finish at an athletics stadium, giving the event a great "village" atmosphere.
Interesting city route, but very twisty / turny - forever making hairpin bends, leaping on and off kerbs, never knowing quite where you were being sent next...
Which brings me to my biggest negative... I got sent the wrong way. Or rather, the runners in front of me had been sent the wrong way at the roundabout on the cobbled section, by an archway, at about mile 7. The marshall had not been quick enough to stop them, so more of us followed suit. By the time we registered everyone's shouts, turned around and realised, I reckon I had over run by 100m and lost myself about 30 seconds of time. The female behind me who I had worked hard for 7 miles to drop then caught me up. Very infuriating.
Shame, as apart from this mishap, which understandably put a dampner on my experience, the rest of the race was good. Water in bottles, not cups, and well positioned. Good support on route. A varied route that kept you guessing, and a great finish, completing 2 laps of the track, making it spectator friendly. Good value for money, a nice quality medal. But please, no more marshalling mishaps next year...
Date of review: February 20, 2012

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

In short: Fun, friendly, fiercely windy!
In full: What a great race! So very well organised - the detail of the pre-race info left nothing to chance - and with a really friendly atmosphere, both before, during and after the race. The quality of the cakes on offer and the value of the refreshments was superb! (I always rate a race on the cake quality!)
Challenging setting and course this year due to the strong wind but the organisers overcame this problem (meaning they couldn't errect their planned marquees) very well. Several nice touches - the finishers clock, funnel, announcer and my first experience at running through a tape as first lady - all made this a special event. The trophies were lovely - very individual and of high quality. How refreshing as well to include a seperate category for seniors as well as all the vets, who usually have to place in the top three or else get nothing. Thanks Tavistock AC for a great race. I'll be back next year!
Date of review: October 24, 2011

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

In short: Expect to hurt, but the pain is worth it!
In full: Superbly organised, friendly yet very challenging race. This was my first ultra and with the non-stop hills and blazing hot sun, I found it hard going from about mile 17 onwards (only just past half way, terrific!) but the support on route and friendly and encouraging marshalls got me through to the end. The magazine warns of 4 hills but in reality the whole course is either a climb or a descent - pretty relentless. But the scenery does help to distract you from the pain!
Lots of information prior to race day and great after-care at race HQ (massage, lovely food, kind ladies offering you a chair to sit on!)
My only one tiny comment that might help to improve the personal drinks stations is to maybe have the drinks arranged in runner's numerical order. Two of the stations could not find my drinks and so I had to run on without them. This is only a very minor issue though and the water stations were so plentiful and well stocked, it didn't make a difference.
Thank you Trotters, I'll be back next year... by when I will hopefully be able walk again!
Date of review: June 6, 2011

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

In short: Well organised and marshalled friendly race in beautiful surroundings
In full: Well organised, informative website and pre-race day information. Nice route - undulating but not excessively hilly - and well marshalled with plenty of water stations. Good support on route as well.
My only negatives are that there could be more toilets available at the start. It would be good to make available the toilets in the school as well as the porta-loos - they queues were very long!
Also, as a very fortunate prize winner, I would have loved a trophey for the trophey cabinet! Just a small one! Two bottles of beer and a voucher for a sports shop in Swanage to a value inferior to what it would cost me in petrol to go there and spend it seemed a little disappointing after all my efforts! But these are only minor issues and overall they did not spoil my experience of a great race and a new PB!
Date of review: May 2, 2011

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

In short: Nice route, well marshalled, prize list needs addressing
In full: Enjoyed this race through the pretty Haldon Forest. Not a tough route in terms of hills (2 moderate climbs), but the heat this year made it a lot tougher.
My one grumble is that after pushing myself really hard to finish as second placed lady, they only gave a prize to the first place lady, top 3 men and vet categories. As a senior female runner the only chance I have to get in the prizes is to be placed top three as there is no seperate category for seniors like there is for vets. When only the first lady is recognised, this makes it an even harder task. Their argument being that they did not offer prizes to the top three men but to the top three runners, but let's face it, in a mixed sex race, they are bound to be men. A bit frustrating and disappointing; it's almost like the women are not important!
Date of review: April 26, 2011

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

In short: Really well organised great day!
Date of review: November 17, 2010

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