Latest Ratings
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2013 Hastings Runners 5 Mile Road Race
 | | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Love it!
In full: Fast and flat as usual, plenty of club runners but not clubby or elitey at all. Knocked 2.5 minutes off last year, so very pleased with that. The medal was just superb, wonderful for a small 5 mile event like this one! Will be back next year definitely. Well done Hastings Runners, marshals, drinks stations helpers and for everyone else who helped with the race organisation. Thank you all.
Date of review: May 17, 2013
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2013 Sevenoaks Rotary Knole Park 10K
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: First time in Sevenoaks
In full: Had heard about Knole Park but had never ventured out until now. What a lovely location to hold a race. It was very slippery due to all the snow and rain, so that made conditions difficult for a very quick run, and you had to be careful. The hill at 2k and 7k was steep-ish but short, so no complaints at all about that. Lovely gradual descent along the 'back straight' as it were before turning to descend for the second lap/finish. Nice medal and drinks and bananas at the finish. Well done Rotary for all their efforts and to everyone involved in the organisation. Many thanks to Lord Sackville for his kind permission to use his estate, a beautiful scenic location. Looking forward to the Sevenoaks 7 in September already!
Date of review: April 9, 2013
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2013 Paddock Wood AC Half Marathon
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Lovely half marathon
In full: The weather turned out just perfect for this race, so welcome after the Siberian conditions we've all had to endure so far. And there was me in my red running tights! Lol. Got some encouraging and witty comments about those! A real PB potential half marathon, and the only really significant incline was between miles 1 and 2, and even that wasn't at all arduous really. One other very short one around mile 7 but that was to cross over a railway bridge.
Many thanks to Paddock Wood AC for all their efforts, to the marshals and everyone else involved. Good accurate mile markers, welcome drinks and wet sponge stations (plus the guy in the stocks!), very lovely medal too. Good local crowd support along the way. Nice to have a goody bag, very welcome. Would have loved to have got a PB and was on course until mile 10 when my energy levels dropped, but with more training a PB is definitely on the cards.
Well done all, see you next year.
Date of review: April 9, 2013
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2013 Hastings Lions Half-Marathon
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: The 'Hilly Hastings Half' strikes again!
In full: This was my eighth participation in a row. Why? Because it is such a magnificent race, and a better half marathon is hard to find, in my view. The organisation was superb as always, so once again a great many thanks to Hastings Lions Club. They will need more support next year as Hastings Borough Council and Spar will no longer be able to give full support, for reasons best known to them.
Many thanks to the marshals, police, drinks station volunteers and everyone who had to stand there in the bitterly cold weather, so unusual for this time of year. I loved the Grey Owl horse brass, a wonderful memento. Next year is the 30th Anniversary of this wonderful race, so yours truly will be back, make no mistake. Wonderful crowd support along the way too, I nearly cried when I saw those dear physically handicapped patients from Mary House along the Ridge, watching the race go by and enjoying it as far as they could do so. Bless them. Thank you all, and once again to Hastings Lions Club for all their efforts year on year. Long may it continue.
Date of review: March 28, 2013
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2013 The Lifestyle Renault Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Exceeded my expectations
In full: The organisation was well up to, and exceeded, standard this year. No debacle with goody bags as in last year. The assembly point and stands were located this time in the main sports hall, which allowed far more space for runners etc to gather, warm up and so on. The medal and T-shirt were excellent, especially to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of this race.
The course was just the same, scenic, as well as fast and also tough by turns. Wonderful crowd support, mile markers all accurately in place, superb marshalling. Many thanks to those marshals who stood there in the bitterly cold weather, they must have been frozen stiff at the end! So pleased the race was able to go ahead, many thanks to TW Harriers and everyone involved in making sure the race went ahead. Will be back next year.
Date of review: March 2, 2013
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2012 Arundel Scouts 10K
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: One of my all-time favourites.
In full: This was as challenging as ever, and as worthwhile as ever. I love it. Chip timing was used for the first time, so a new feature for this magnificent race. This is the fourth time I have run it, missing out in 2009 and 2010 due to injury and holidays respectively!
Many thanks to 1st Arundel Scouts for their brilliant organisation, to the marshalls and other race officials, those who manned drinks stations and to the townsfolk of Arundel who turn out in force every year to cheer the runners on. This makes the race so inclusive, and it is wonderful to take part in this fringe event of the Arundel Festival. All kilometre markers were easily visible and accurately placed. And it was a glorious morning weatherwise which made the glorious scenery such a joy to behold as always! So lovely to receive a medal and, when uploaded, free downloads of your race photos. Not cheap that.
Next year? Of course!!
Date of review: August 26, 2012
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2012 Seaford Half Marathon
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Cramp again - doh!
In full: Yes, yours truly got cramp at mile 9, when trying to climb over a stile. St. John Ambulance personnel helped out with some stretches and TLC at mile 10 though. This is a lovely race, the scenery is to die for. The marshals were very friendly and helpful, regular drinks stations around the course. It was really tough this year, however, and I do ache in new places, as they say! The stretch along the Cuckmere towpath is not as flat as it appears! Well done to Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford Lions Club for all their hard work in putting this race on each year.
I ran this race for charity, and completed it so that's the main thing. www.virginmoneygiving.com/Pete-Thompson if any of you might be interested.
Date of review: June 3, 2012
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2012 Hastings Runners 5 Mile Road Race
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Good speed test
In full: And don't go off too fast! Think I might have done that just a little but still came in under 10 minute miling, which I was pleased about because of my personal concerns about my fitness. Very well marshalled, drinks station just before halfway. Very friendly, despite the considerable number of club runners (myself included) present. Lovely 'olympic' medal! A nice low-key event after the grandeur of the 'Hilly Hastings Half' as I call it. Lovely to see the crowd at the finish line give a big cheer to a blind runner finishing, and who beat about four or five others as well. Super stuff.
Date of review: May 14, 2012
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2012 Hastings Lions Half-Marathon
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 100% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: The 'Hilly Hastings Half' strikes again!
In full: Another wonderful race put on by 'Lord Eric' Hardwick and the Hastings Lions Club! Excellent weather and no westerly winds to drive you back on the promenade. Thought the hairpin turn now situated at the top of Winchelsea Road/Rye Road was better than at Rock-A-Nore Road, as you spend less time on the flat which is quite draining after being amongst the hills for so long.
Wonderful organisation and horse brass memento as always. This is a 'must-do' race for me. Hope to be back every year for many more years to come. Top class race.
Date of review: March 25, 2012
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2012 Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Medals and goody bags - what's going on?
In full: Well, it all fell down today. Expectations were dashed by some pretty poor organisational failings. There was simply no excuse for the goody bags to have run out, as one TW Harriers member advised me after the race that there were more goody bags than runners. So why run out? If leading runners were taking more than one bag, then why weren't those responsible for handing them out making sure only ONE bag per runner was handed out? Daydreaming? Being kind with good intentions but totally unaware of the needs of others? Dear oh dear.
And the medal? Who wants a shapeless, bland, square effort unlike 2010 and 2011? Really ugly and inconsiderate. Did I see some runners leaving the race with the oval-shaped bespoke medals we have had before? IF. I said IF, I did, then this appears to amount to clubby elitism at its worse. If this race won the Runner's World award for 'most improved event' in 2009, then it has taken ten paces backward today. This is a real shame, and so needless as well. The rest of the organisation was like clockwork, a pity either one or two aspects let it down badly today. That's why the categories of Organisation, Value and Overall have been marked down, unlike previous years.
Date of review: February 26, 2012
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