My Event Ratings

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

In short: A nice mixed terrain 8 miler, plenty of hills (if you like that sort of thing)
In full: A really good smaller race, lovely scenery, well organised, quite a few hills which were tricky to negotiate with the icy conditions (a few people I saw fell over).

Free banana at the end but no medal. Chip timing on the gun rather than when you cross the start isn't great but not a big deal if you time yourself.

Pretty quick course and a nice way to spend a Sunday morning. Well marked out and marshaled.

Really nice touch to be able to download your race photos for free rather than having to pay like most events (although mine were pretty hideous so I didn't bother).
Date of review: December 11, 2012

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

In short: Let your inner child escape, get covered in mud, splash in some swamp water and have a jolly good laugh!
In full: This was the second muddy cross country race that I have done, personally I favor road races and am training for a half marathon but a friend of mine persuaded me to do it.

We have very different paces but I ran with her and we took it steady (which turned out to be a very good idea). As previous reviewers have said, the first couple of miles really lull you into a false sense of security. Nice scenic trails around farmers fields and woodland paths. There were a few places where the paths were narrow which caused some congestion, this would be my only real criticism (perhaps they could consider a staggered start).

We didn't have to wait too long before the first hilly climb and then the first watery pit! Again there was some congestion which made it hard to get through. The very sticky sand meant that if you stopped you sunk so everyone had to hang back to allow themselves a run up.

The atmosphere was great with people helping one another out of the sticky bits and marshals cheering us along the way.

The TurboX zone was something else. Loved it. Some of the hills were so steep that you had to put your hands down to scramble up, or slide down on your bum. Some of the bogs were so deep that I was virtually up to my armpits in squishy stinky mud (I am only 5 foot tall mind you).

We were really lucky with the weather it was cold but good for running and not frozen or raining. I would love to do this event again and would like to see if I could beat my time by running on my own.

I would certainly suggest that this is one for fitter runners as it really is a total body workout coupling 10 miles of running with hauling yourself out of mud.

The event info said no water stations but there were 2 and one at the end. The finishers t-shirt was a nice touch too, but a bit sad there wasn't a medal (can't have everything). Would like to know why the freebies in the goody bag were all labelled in French though.

All in all a great event which has inspired me to do more crazy, muddy, off road events!
Date of review: December 11, 2012

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

In short: A friendly, local, well organised, fun 10k.
In full: I have just completed Swallfowfield 10k today and it was great. So much so that I actually bothered to leave my review. There was only a small amount of entrants and the atmosphere was one of a really friendly community.

The course was undulating with a few hills but nothing too challenging. With the added bonus of some nice scenery and very little traffic.

Even though it was a small event it wasn't too elite and there was a good range of abilities.

The race organisers and ladies with drinks were very cheery and the announcer naming everyone as they crossed the line was a really nice touch which you don't get with larger events. Very good quality goodie bag at the end too.

One of my top races and will be back next year.
Date of review: September 16, 2012

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