Rutland Water Marathon

[Deleted User] · November 2010

Phil the results are on the blog page of the website. Kind of a weird place to put them and I wouldn't have found them if someone on here hadn't have told me, but they have been there since Monday. The photos are also accessed via the blog page too.

hillrunner.org.uk · November 2010

For some reason my computer will not let me click on the blog part of the website, giving an error message, will keep trying, sure i will get the results some how-thanks anyway.

J2R · November 2010

Actually, on the information sheet sent out with the race number, it says about the race start: "It is a 10 minute walk from the car park". It was 1.2 miles. Now, if I could walk 1.2 miles in 10 minutes, I think I'd just have stuck with walking for the course itself - why bother with running? How difficult is this kind of thing for an organiser to get right? Try www.gmap-pedometer.com. Or maybe even walk it yourself, just to check? The issue here is not the long walk to the start itself (which isn't ideal but may be unavoidable), but the fact that people were so badly misinformed about it (I heard that many didn't make it to the start line in time, even with the delayed start).

Also on the info sheet: "For the first few miles gates will be kept open by marshals". Now, I may just have been unlucky but I was in the lead pack and I didn't see a single gate held open by a marshal. (Later on I went through some gates kindly held open by spectators). This is not a criticism of the marshals, as I have no doubt that they would have held open the gates willingly, had they been asked by the organisers to do so, which it seems they were not.

And does anyone else think that this description of the course was a trifle misleading: "The majority of the route is on tarmac but there are small sections of grass and hard trail/soft trail"? Together with the playing down of the hilly nature of the course, I get the impression the organisers were keen to get as many people coming as they could and didn't want to deter them with the idea that it might be a difficult course. Once again, the complaint here is not the nature of the course itself (which I loved, just my cup of tea), but the misleading information about it.

And how difficult is it to get the mile markers right? Cycle along with your GPS watch going (I assume Fat Feet have a GPS watch between them) and when it beeps for a mile, you stick a sign on one of the thousands of trees, and then carry on. How could they, practically, have got this so bizarrely wrong when it is just so easy to get right (and no more work)? That's a mystery to me. They did get the numbers in order, though, which was good.

For those of you for whom this was the first marathon you've done and you can't see what a few of us are complaining about, you're undoubtedly in for a treat when you come to do your next one. I've done 10 before, all vastly better organised than this (even Dublin, which I thought was poorly organised particularly considering the steep entry fee). But it doesn't take a big organisation to do properly, just some thought. I've run 2 marathons in East Anglia, at Bungay and Halstead, both organised by small running clubs but vastly better done than this one.

I'm sure Fat Feet will organise things better next time, though, and I'll probably be back.

hillrunner.org.uk · November 2010

Agree with J2R

They need to give out better information and with a bit more organisation i may run it again i suppose, forgot to say i did not understand why they sent your number through the post but you had to register on the day and collect your chip on the day. Also no reg times where given out as i beleive, maybe some could have reg the day before so more people would have been at the start at 9.

Maybe i am being a bit hard on fat feet and its just i am used to excellent and well organised marathons?

Phil

M...eldy · November 2010

They probably have to hire out the chip system for the day hence why its not mailed out weeks previousy

Spence · November 2010

My only complaint, is the daft old bat who said, "It's all flat once you get out of the village"

I'd like to visit her and put a bat up her night dress!!

[Deleted User] · November 2011

Not sure what planet the people who complained are on - every marathon is different that is what makes marathon running so great. The organisers clearly stated the refreshment position and the time of walk to the start.

Thank you to the organisers and marshalls for puuting on such a great event. I will definately be back next year and will be recommending the Rutland Marathon to other people

J2R · November 2011

David Lewis 50, you may want to look at the dates of the complaints you're complaining about. They're all from last year, not this year. I would imagine Fat Feet have got their act together rather better this year. Despite my complaints last year, I'd still happily have done it again this year but was unfortunately not able to.