Numbers were picked up on the day, we got there at 9:15 for a 10:30am start so we had no trouble parking or picking up our numbers, but I can imagine you may of had to queue if you turned up later. For the first time ever there was only ever a queue of 3 or 4 people in the ladies so no waiting around for too long. The race started promptly, I must say I do wish this event had been chip timed but for entry of around £10 I guess I can't complain.
The route was 2 laps of 5 miles, I was petrified of being lapped but I managed to avoid it. If I'm honest I thought the route would be awful as Bretton is not the most scenic of places, but I actually really enjoyed it, especially the two wooded sections around mile 2 and mile 4. Each lap included 2 underpasses and 2 bridges, which is always fun.
I think because I was so negative about this race from the ofset I really didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I set off to quickly and stopped to walk a few times and started to get really frustrated with myself. At one point I just wanted to sit down and cry, but thankfully Rach wouldn't let me embarrass myself like that.
My only negative side to the race is that I didn't feel the marshals were very supportive. A few were absolutely brilliant and really encouraging but others just looked like they were bored. There were 3 water stations on route. 1 which you passed twice and one at the 5 mile mark, although this didn't effect me as I was quite near the back there wasn't many people around me, but this was placed on a narrow section, which you passed through a gate to get too, for the faster runners I can imagine this was carnage, but obviously I cannot comment.
All in all I will be back, a; I want to beat my time (hopefully sub 1:35 next time) and b; I want to enjoy it and appreciate the course.
Final time: 1:42:24
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