My Event Ratings

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

In short: Third time here and again an excellent race.
In full: Not flash but well worthwhile. Good support at teh start/finish area and although the route isn't flat you always feel you get a fair amount of downhill to look forward to after climbing. The last 800m is tough but always memorable. Disappointed to miss out on my 3rd consecutive PB here by 5secs, but that does show it's a pretty fast course. Nice enough medal and one of the few races I make room for each year :)
Date of review: May 19, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Flat, fast, well organised, good value, super medal
In full: Unlike some races this one is as flat as it claims. Also some of it is sheltered enough to offer some protection from any headwinds (common on coastal runs).
Good support, lots of club runners but still fine for everyone. No chip timing but a nice wide start means not much time is lost on gun time (and we all have stop-watches anyway don't we?)
Also; one of the nicest medals I've seen. Very classy and actually worth doing the event for on its own!
Date of review: May 12, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Excellent value package of three trail races. Well organised and a great intro to multi-day events
In full: A well executed set of two 10 milers and a 10k. The routes actually do get easier so if you do East Grinstead but don't feel you can cope with more keep going!
EG is the most off-road of the 3, with a killer hill a mile from the end. HH is the biggest one and if you can only do one it's probably the best to pick. Lots more road running but enough trails and gradients to make a PB unlikely. Finally BH is a mostly field-based run; bit of a cross between the other two but with an excellent town-centre finish.
All races had plenty of club runners but were still suitable for everyone. In each case the local mayor was on had to give out medals. Plenty to eat afterwards and a chance to earn 4 medals in one weekend! Well worth trying, here's hoping it continues to grow as a event :)
Date of review: May 7, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Well organised, good value nice if at times challenging route, friendly marshals. Basically a good race then
In full: Second time here and thankfully much drier than last year, at least for most of the race! On the other hand running on dry rutted trials was a different sort of challene. Also, I've ran four marathons this year but the climb a mile from the end is the closest I've come to walking so far!
Overall a good, well organised race with supportive marshals.
Looking forward to tomorrow's Haywards Heath 10 Mile to compare this one to :)
Date of review: May 4, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Fairly tough trail run on good surfaces. Good intro to trail marathons and well worth a look in any case
In full: Nice friendly race in very cold conditions. Good scenery and not over-crowed, though being out in the New Forest does mean close to zero spectators. I'd suggest two improvements: include some distance markers for those of us that aren't garmin-addicts, and put a bin for plastic cups 100 yards after the drinks station so we have a chance to drink while running and not litter the place. This was my first trail marathon (3rd in total) and definitely the hardest. Nice event, decent medal, tasty soup and bread afterwards :) No goody bag but that's not normally a big loss anyway. Not many fun runners but if you want to try an off-road marathon this one's well worth a look: it's on fairly good trails so unless very wet road shoes will do. Not sure if it'll convert me to the muddier side of running, but I've no regrets about having ran it (was only 20mins off my flat road course PB so maybe it wasn't a tough as I thought at the time too!)
Date of review: February 24, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Profile described as "Flat"; just plain not true. Good value event with crowds at the end
In full: Bit annoyed the race was described as flat when it was pretty much all undulation. Not steep/long hills but only at most a quarter wasn't going up or down. It's not a bad race anyway but some more honesty would be nice; there's plenty of races that are genuinely flat, and others that aren't but are willing to say that.
Apart from that it's a good value for money run and credit to the organisers for offering a choice of t-shirt sizes; some much bigger races could learn from this! Getting the announcer a loud-speaker for the start would be good but as 99% of runners will follow others it's not vital.
My garmin came up short too but they're not 100% accurate: I've had the same thing happen on courses I'm confident were accurate (e.g. those ran every year). Still if it was wrong then that would be poor. (I'd say there were courses that would suit PB attempts a lot more that this one, but then I'm mainly a road-runner.)
Despite the issues it's still a good value run in nice surroundings: how many other sports enable you to decide to enter on the morning and pay £11 for a medal, t-shirt and nice sense of achievement?
Date of review: February 17, 2013

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Definitely not flat! Surprisingly tough course but enjoyable regardless.
In full: Nice day out, these race course-based runs always seem to have good facilities. A goody bag with several gels and a nice enough medal at the end. I did enter expecting a flat course ("quick dash" I believe the blurb said) and it's certainly not that. But still a good run to do; then reward yourself in the main show with some new gear :p
Date of review: November 25, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Nice route and luxurious race HQ at the race course.
In full: First half was fairly hilly but all downhill (pretty much) from there. Actually set a new PB here beating my time at the (very flat) Great South Run a few weeks earlier. No spectators but friendly enough marshals and a nice mostly tree-lined route. Some more signs directing people to the car park would have been nice and maybe a slightly more impressive finish line would be a nice touch, but not vital. One water stop at 5 miles was a minimum but seemed to do the trick I guess. Nice mug or pen choice as a memento (never thought I'd say this but big events aside I have enough medals now!) Chip timing would be nice as well so there are some ways to improve the event, but it's a nice enough run that's apparently faster than it at first seems!
Date of review: November 18, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Well organised with a fast flat course. Not cheap but decent value and well worth doing.
In full: My second year here and much the same as before. Good organisation proves that it is possible to put on large events without hassle and stress. Generally well supported (though some crowds are louder, but then the weather isn't always lovely to be fair). The scenery is fine if urban. Good course for a PB (not that 10 mile races are that common anyway). Nice medal and goody bag. The only Great Run in the south but it suggests the others are worth a look. If you only one "big" race and want to keep it under a half then this is well worth a look.
Date of review: October 28, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

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

In short: Fun, hard, hilly. Well organised, nice scenery and a good intro to trail running.
In full: After Barns Green last week this is the second really nice HM I've done in eight days. Good atmosphere (I liked the pre/post race music, but tastes vary) and a good facility at Denbies. Hard course but nothing extreme; well marked with good marshals (sorry for being too tired to always say thanks on the hills!) Nice tech t-shirt easily makes up for no medal. Would be nice to be able to see results sorted by chip time but otherwise all good. Does make me more likely to look at other events in the same area, Bacchus marathon maybe...? :)
Date of review: October 7, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator