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THE SUSSEX MARATHON FESTIVAL
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Hi All,
i've just been onto the race website & seen the new route....they obviously had problems getting approval for the original route & the new one looks like a very poor subsitute...10k loop, out & back, 10 k loop , out & back ..... I'm pulling out, adjusting my training & going for Halstead & Essex instead!
good luck
Not the most inspiring of routs, however it does have the advantage of being good for anybody spectating. And I will be able to see how the front of the race is playing out as they pass me 3 times!
The final route is awful and I do live in the area! It's nothing like the proposed route.
I can't imagine anything worse that multiple laps and out and backs for 26 miles. One out and back is fine but two?
If I want to run back and forth I can do this on the seafront in Eastbourne any time for free.
I'm pulling out and concentrating on Edinburgh. Very dissapointed as the organisers usually put on very good races.
Hi All
Thought i would have to chuck my ten penny's worth in and the route is absolutely diabolical!!
to say the least - i live nearby and most of my training runs are better than this. It is sooo different from the provisional planned course and can only agree with buzylizzy above - i had entered a ' lovely rural' course albeit a challenge. can't wait to get to the end of loop 2 and think oh great got to do that all again! Won't pull out as i have paid my money and spent all my sundays with sore feet.
The organisation will be good and the support good for any family & friends at the start/finish - wont be a single person on route though (apart from marshalls and maybe a few in the town centre on the first loop highly unlikely at 8.30) it's too rural and busy with traffic - could be very long lonely 2nd loop seeing everyone already coming back home!!
The bexhill half is a 4 loop affair - same organisers. They have moved very much into organising tri's (exceedingly well) asking people to register the day before or on the day and running multiple laps is all very triathlon orientated.
Oh well
I would suspect that changes have been forced upon the organisers by authorities for whatever reason - nobody likes changing a course plan when they have it set out and it's usually an enforced change to take account of circumstances. don't criticise unless you know why!!
the Bexhill 1/2 has been a 4 loop affair since it started afaik - so please don't throw that in as an excuse. people know what they're entering with that.
and triathlons are register on the day due to the need to rack bikes and get your transition kit sorted in advance so triathletes have to arrive in plenty of time to do that - it's not like a running event where you turn up, line up and run!!! and yes - most tris are multiple laps to reduce the organisational costs and marshalling requirement, plus provide aid stations at convenient points - all different needs to straight running events. I'm putting the record straight I hope as to why triathlons and running events are different and not a reason why the course has changed as I think the inference stated is completely wrong!!
BUT - saying all that, I wouldn't be happy with the changes if I'd been entered so for those doing it, and to Paul and his team on the organising side, I hope it goes well.
In addition, the new route was released with less than 3 weeks to go...I'm assuming that it has only been finalized + that they haven't been sitting on this for a while (no inference intended)!
Hi fat buddha
Thanks for your comments, the problem here is HOW much it has changed from the original and how the original was sold. Of course they would have good reason to change, safety, road closures, usual bloody red tape the list is endless, i am sure they are as pissed off as we are? I would not have entered this knowing the final course - the final course was written off on the 6th Feb? (facebook page). It is soooo disappointing to train hard and end up with this. If you are local compare this to your brighton course?
I know they will put on a fantastic show and everyone will be thoroughly looked after, - like it or not and fair play to you if this is your club but running laps, registering the day before (not a pre- requisite) have comparisons to a tri set up (thanks for explaining) and TL other races (done a few of both.) i was not infering that this WAS the reason the course changed merely that this is now really their bag - Like you said this is supposed to be a straight running race.
Hopefully all this moaning will be in vain and it will be a great day!
Brighton is flat in comparison!! there are no hills to speak of at Brighton like the ones you will have - simple as. I did the Hastings marathon in 2008 and I think that was probably flatter than this one will be even allowing for the run up to the Ridge on that. it will be testing to say the least.
I really hope to goes well for TL and the participants - the 1st running of any event is always the hardest as there so many intangibles.
anyway - good luck - I might well pop up to cheer you all on
I don't think anyone is comparing to Tri.
I have done all 3 of the Bexhill Halfs and don't mind the laps for 13 miles. I have also competed in the 10 and 5ks they organise.
As mentioned before the course has changed out of all recognition and will be a grind especially as slower runners will be lapped at least twice. This is soul destroying.
I'm more of the mindset like Kaz. I've also run a few which are laps so will turn up on the day and see how it goes. I do understand the disappointment though, as I too signed up for what is a more expensive race (cost and travel to it) not least for it being an interesting course. But we'll see how it goes...
We'll all need to be prepared for being overtaken anyway as there is a relay on. Knowing how that works from Luton and SDM, best to be ready for being continuously overtaken and use as a positive by assuming that everyone who goes passed you is merely a relay runner!
Thanks for the comparison to Hastings FB. That's useful to us tourists just down for another weekend's sightseeing. Apologies to all but I hope it is a hilly course as have signed up for the picnic in the summer which is supposed to be the hilliest marathon so need some prep!
Also how many/steep/long are we talking?
Thanks!
I think the reason some runners are so hacked off is simple:
1) the new route bears no resemblance to what attracted them to it in the first place
2) the nature of the out & back part of the course....some are talking about laps which I wouldn't mind too much....but, these are not true laps.....from the map, after the initial loop, you run down/up a long road, then turn on a sixpence(presumably), back up/down the same road, then turn round again, back along the same road, turn round again, then back along the same road to the finish.
I wouldn't do this on a long training run, let alone pay £30 to do it!
In fact, as this is so far removed from the original plans I would suggest that the organisers should consider a refund to those that want it....doubt it though!!
Best of luck to everyone running.
put it this way - even for the front runners, it's nowhere near a PB course and they will find it as tough as everyone else.
but saying that, it's a lovely part of rural Sussex - just watch out for a blind lad twanging a banjo.....
For me this was only ever a long training run with a medal at the end so I don't mind too much. Loops and out and backs are ok some times but even so running the same bit of road 4 times is a bit shit. I don’t mind registering in advance I think it is fairly common. But I am not impressed with the 8.30 start
I am training for an ultra so the course being like this is a good chance for me to try doing a long run the day before as I will only be 5 miles away from the Start/Finish at the furthers point if I need to drop out.
Of course I don't know what this road is like there might be something on it that is worth running past 4 times!
you did Hastings marathon didn't you?? think of that profile with a bit more up and down - in fact the run out of Battle to Catsfield is the same as Hastings and is probably the flattest section
Hey Ultra i know the area well and will be doing the 10 mile loop out from HQ on sat am will post a report shortly after,
From the 4.5 mile point, all the way to the left hand turn B2204, down towards the powdermill lane turn you did at Hastings - reasonably flat section.
Fog and cold in hastings? Never.
For me the hills are not a great surprise. I'd already resigned myself to not beating my pb. I've had injury setbacks in training too.
However after seeing the course layout on the website I have to say I'm not impressed in the slightest. It will be soul destroying having the front runners lap you several times.
But like someone on this forum has already mentioned 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles and completing a marathon is a huge achievement. I will run my own race, try to get a respectable time and forget about the leaders.
Best of luck to everyone else running!
Hi eveyone,
This will be my first marathon. I have trained hard in what I thought was a hilly area where live. All training has been around a lap mentality. Now I see the finalised route and its a shocker. Have to say I was very disapointed. I live at least an hour away and I have to travel down the day before just to resgister due to the start time moving back! Humm whats all that about.
Yesterday I got a day off and felt the need to visit the area to see the course and blimey the out and back part is horrendous really steep short hills all the way along a single width country road . With all the runners going in the same direction there won't be much room let alone people coming the other way!!!!
I agree with the comments already on here its not what we all signed up for. Anyway I'm sure the moaning will stop and I really really hope come race day the organisers have got it right and by then the emotions of the course have changed into lets get this tough challenge on.
To all the full marathon runners I to will be there driving up the hills and going oh ah my knees coming down the hills. After all what goes up must come down again and again. your mission is to cross the finish line, humm after 5.8 miles, 161/2 miles and at 26 miles finally.
The course change is a big disappointment. I entered this as my first marathon and knew it would be hilly (I work out this way and it is VERY hilly - the run out and back and out and back to Ashburnham will be interesting!) but I did not envisage having to take on the same slopes 4 times up an down. It's a shame because the previous route went through some great bits of the countryside.
The positive is that we will get plenty of chance to see each other as we pass back and forth so plenty of high fives chaps in the barren wilderness that is the route from the North Trade Road to Ashburnham!
Have Hastings Half this Sunday as a warm up which will be a walk in the park hill wise even with the dreaded Queensway!
I had heard from a club member that there had been some very mixed feedback on the route changes. Knowing the organisers as I do I can assure anyone that this would not have been a decision taken lightly. I'm afraid that it almost definitely a case of red tape, beauracracy and a local authority dread of upsetting all the local Guardian reading hand wringers by closing a few roads for just a few hours on just one day of the year!
Our Government points the guilty finger at the general populace for becoming obese and states quite firmly that we should all eat less, get off our fat bums and then move around a bit more. But as soon as someone shows the initiative and tries to organise a quality event (which it STILL will be) along comes the local authorities to, put in very bluntly, piss all over the parade.
I think also that everyone should stop and take a minute to think. We are all runners, or in mine and many others case, triathletes, and we do this sport for a multitude of reasons. We want to be fit, de-stressed, not get too lardy and to challenge ourselves. Entering a marathon means you'll be running for several hours. You WILL encounter hills, unless your marathon is in East Anglia or The Netherlands, and it will require both solid physical and mental effort. Moaning about course details and organisation endlessly just tells me that the great sporting spirit is running the risk of an early demise and that would be the greatest tragedy of all.
If you have entered then turn up with a positive mind. The organisation will be, as always, superb. The organisers and martials (all volunteers) will support you all day. The challenge of the course will test you, your fellow runners will be kindred spirits and, if you dig in, you will complete a tough marathon and will go home with a real sense of achievement. Remember, with recent world events, we are priveledged to live in such a safe and stable environment so put a bit of perspective around your collective gripes!
Remember we are all athletes and should, by defininition, be positive people - so let's accept the situation and be just that - positive. And, to save everyone from asking, yes I am a member of Team Lifestyle Triathlon club and am bloody well proud to be.