My Event Ratings

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

In short: Superb!
In full: Second year of running this race. Slick, well organised with friendly marshalls and good support. Flat, well sign posted course. A very fast race as 80pc club runners but I was not put off being almost last running in 2h13 as I'm running against myself, and had plenty of cheerers along the way :)
Will be signing up for next year's for sure.
Date of review: April 8, 2013

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

In short: Well organised day out, worth doing again
In full: Okay, I know a lot of people have griped about the organisation and cost cutting, but compared to many London events this one was slick. Also, the event is all for charity, so they're trying to keep costs low. I do agree that water bottles are miles better than cups though - i especially find cups hard as I have lip peircings they get stuck on! but even without that you have to slow down a lot to driunk
Plus points - well organised (except the start), free refreshments - tea, coffee, squash, banana, water, good support at beginning and end, well marshalled including lots of police on roads, an awful lot of 'get in lane' and 'turn here' signs, v helpful marshalled in town to help find the start (first time to this city), concessionary parking, sponges at two water stations were welcome surprise.
Down points; at the start need some sort of organisation to get the faster runners to the front. i'm a slower runner and couldnt guage how far back in the lineup i was, even though i tried to get near the back. also running single file along traffic was a bit frustrating but i'm not gonna risk running into a lorry for 10 secs faster time.

big mix of runner ages and abiliites which is nice. i finished in 2h30 for the half and was no where near the last half mara runner :)

i'll be back next year to have another go as overall race was still pretty nifty
Date of review: May 9, 2011

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

In short: Excellent flat course, well organised
In full: Only my second half mara and first time doing this event.
Firstly I thought the entry price was a bargain. The race was very well organised. Lots of signs (cept to the finish from the start for supporters) and marshalls on the course. Also pamphlet sent in the mail was very helpful
I'm still a beginner runner, so finished in the last quarter of runners, so had a good 5-10 metres between me and the runner in front for the majority of the race. It was a bit lonely on the country roads, but when going through the villages there was good local support.
I managed a new PB (shaved 2m30s off) so was pleased with that. Course is super flat apart from a couple of railway bridges and a very slight uphill at around mile 11-12.
Will defo do it again next year, just hope it isnt so hot
Only tiny niggle, my family came to watchhand couldnt find anyone to ask or signs to see showing where the finish was from the start (they were not in the same place), so although they were only about 1k apart, it took them a while to locate the finish.
Overall, super race as i expected :D:D
Date of review: April 10, 2011

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		100%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		20%

In short: Nice flat course but elitey
In full: This was my fourth time racing in this park, though first time for this event. The 1k first prize attracked a lot of top runners, making the race not very beginner friendly. I ran a respectable 46mins, and yet was almost last - whereas in a charity race i would have been towards the middle or slightly in the front half of finishers.
In terms of the organisation and course. Fantastic. Very efficient and crossover point (course is 2x figure of eight laps) was handled very well.
I will do this race again, but it is a lonely place at the back. Will have to get faster :)
Nice little metal water bottle for all finishers was a good touch too.
Overall for me an average race and i didnt find it very beginner friendly, but if you're a faster runner, this is where its at - fast well marshalled course with good prizes
Date of review: March 27, 2011

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Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: So-so race, not hideous but not worth writing home about
In full: Arrived at the race in good time, and found it quite disorganised and hung around for ages getting very cold. No warmup, the race just suddenly started.
The first 2k felt like running around a football pitch during PE lessons, very slippery too. From 3k-4.5k had to avoid parked and moving cars.
A lot of the course was very narrow, and so I felt I was slowed down overall by a good minute by not being able to overtake people. Certainly where the road was and along the tow path, overtaking was virtually impossible.
Not many markers, bollards or marshalls.
The only plus points was the end (not getting to the end mind), nice medal and good to get some fruit and snacks.
Definately needs to be more organised, and reading other reviews, it seems odd considering the lack of markers, that there was no lead bicylce - even small charity runs usually have a lead bicycle.
I probably wont do this again. I would say in terms of organisation and atmosphere, the worst race I've done this year.
Date of review: November 22, 2010

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

In short: Fun challenge
In full: My first time down to Clapham, found a fun race HQ, with a kids 2k before the 5k. They were so fast! Good joint warm up before the race. Course was almost perfectly flat, mixture of tarmac path and grass.
Well organised, nice to have an MC and music. lots of marshalls and cheerers.
Two minor gripes. The turns on parts of the course was extremely tight meaning you had to slow to get round.
Secondly, paying a £1 for baggage storage is a bit odd.
Likes the medal and teeshirt though.
I'm still a beginner, and even though this race had some super fast guys, it was definately beginner friendly
Set a new PB too.
Date of review: August 22, 2010

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

In short: Fun & friendly
In full: Only my 2nd 10k race, having only really done 5ks. Really enjoyed the course, lots of cheerers and marshalls. Almost perfectly flat course. Goodie bag was great and a fun & friendly party atmosphere at the race HQ/end.
Race was fast, and I'm quite slow, but didnt mind coming in near the end, as event was welcoming for all abilities.
Only niggle, should have made it clear that slower runners should be on the right, so fast runners could lap on the left. Tiny point though.
Will definately do it again, and bring some more friends too.
Date of review: August 15, 2010

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