Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon

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Comments

  • Thanks for replying Dave. I personally thought it was a great race. Beautiful and surprising course, thought the goody bags were no worse than some other races I have been to. I do admit slightly disappointed with the medal, not because that's what I run for, but more for the quite high entry price, I expected a bit more Bang for my buck. But thank you for the explanation. I will be back next year as the marshall's and cadets were smiling and encouraging, the course was great, and the ladies giving out the bananas and sweets at the end were so friendly! 

    So from me it's a well done and see you next year (with a few more toilets ????)

  • runlozrun wrote (see)

    Oh and tea/coffee at the finish would be nice for the old guys like Andyp image  


    Actually it should be cocoa - you cheeky whippersnapper!

  • Very good to see the feedback being taken on. For an inaugural event I thought it was well organised, agree with the constructive critism around the portaloo's and to some extent directions for parking.

    It is very difficult to cater for all the runners needs, personally I would prefer the great timing system to having a more expensive medal (or more of my buck to go to charity).

    Thought I would post a picture of the medal as someone asked early, next to it is probably my most treasured one.

    /members/images/423367/gallery/IMG_20131217_175519_hdr.jpg

     

     

  • We'll done Dave. The right answers in the right tone. As per my main post this race has real potential and has some real positives, and key to this is making the necessary improvements for next year. Having read your response I now believe the organisers will.  ( plus maybe easier to budget now you have a better idea of demand...)

  • Has anyone been surprised by the second 5k split? It doesn't seem to tie up with my garmin splits (recorded manually so nothing to do with GPS being out). It just seems way too fast!

  • Well done Dave for coming on to the forum and making a statement.  It does you credit!

    Brolish, my second 5k is about 1 minute faster compared to my Garmin splits.

  • Yes well done Dave for replying personally to my email and for coming on here and risking more criticism.

    As I live in MK its certainly an event I'll be doing again next year.

  • Class post by Dave

  • Great run, I thought it was fairly flat apart from the usual MK up and over bridges and underpasses. I started to flag between miles 8 and 10 only realising when I downloaded the data on my Garmin that this section was an incline! So I felt better about that afterwards.

    The downhill stretch at mile 11 was enough to re-charge my batteries only to struggle in the last section. I didn't dare give myself the hope of finishing anytime soon as I hadn't seen the 12 marker...until up and over the final insult of a bridge ascent I finally saw the finish line!

    I missed my 1.51 target by just 3 seconds. Maybe I would have had the confidence to push a bit harder if I knew i was nearly there?

    I did think the comments about the medals were funny! Yes it was a bit rubbish but hey, i've already worn the head thing!  I usually save the gels, health bars and pistachios for the trick or treaters! 

    The marshalls were also very friendly.

  • Xyloid- think the 10k mat must've been positioned in a wrong place. I'm sure I didn't run a 5k pb in a middle of a half marathon...lol.image

    Dave- thanks for posting and taking the comments on board. I will be happy to give it a go next year.

  • The organisation was not perfect but it was not bad for a first event.It had the key ingredients: a pleasant route, some great volunteers and good marshalling. I enjoyed it.

    My only big frustration was to find out afterwards that the race did not have a 'UKA Race License', which means our times cannot be offically recorded. This can be frustrating for runners who want to record an official PB or an official qualifying time for the marathon.

  • Thanks for all your positive responses and a big thank you to all those who have contacted me directly.

    Hi Carole – I did email yesterday while I was out and about, but it was from my phone so it might not have got through.  The race has got a UKA Race License – it was granted with about 20 minutes to spare on the Friday before.  It was nail biting stuff!  You can see it here: http://www.runbritain.com/RaceDetail.aspx?eventid=7abb0cc85c67

    We’re still waiting for the results to appear on Power of 10.

    It’s really great to see the nice reaction to the marshals – for a lot of them it was their first time out there.  It was a day of firsts for a lot of us…image

  • I really enjoyed this race. I don't know MK, but the route was nice and varied. The twists and turns made it a bit more challenging in the middle section, but the final few miles made up for that by being nice and straight (and downhill!). I had the surprisingly delight of being first lady, and have to say that having a lead female bike was a novelty - it was appreciated, although I'm not sure if it annoyed some of the other runners who had to dodge out the way occasionally. I wouldn't think it was absolutely necessary (although I don't know what health and safety say about such things these days).
    I don't run races for medals - more for cake and bananas, and there were plenty of those. But changing facilities afterwards would be a useful addition.
    Great race for a first go - all being well I'll be running it again next year. image

  • I thought the race was well organised for a first attempt. I too was disappointed with the medal, but like other people on here, it's not the main reason I run.  I was looking for the 12 mile marker, but relied on my trusty garmin and came to the conclusion it wasn't there, so was going for an all out effort in the last mile. When I crossed the finish line there was plenty if refreshments available, including whole and half banana's.  The marshalls were great, a lot of them teenagers, so I made a point of smiling and saying thank you to them, their support is essential to a successful event. this event will definitely be on my calendar for next year, although I agree with other posts regarding it being a bit expensive.

  • Anyone doing this in December?

    I ran it last year and for a first event it was very good. Already signed up again for this year. We were very lucky with the weather last year so lets hope for the same this time.

  • I don't think I'll be able to do this race again this year, which is a shame, but having run it last year I would definitely recommend it as it was a very nice course (with a few inclines - including one near the finish) and a very friendly atmosphere.

  • PG3PG3 ✭✭✭

    I'm in. Hoping the weather is OK.

  • This will be my first half marathon. Will be "Wogging" it (google it if you need to know!) living the 3.15 cut off as I am heading for 2:40 and the pressure of the finish cut off doesn't help.

     

    can anyone upload a typography from last year? Want to know how bad the inclines are!

    thx 

  • It's pretty flat judging by their route map from their website (near the bottom) http://www.mkwinterhalfmarathon.co.uk/ and elevation is here - http://www.goodrunguide.co.uk/ElevationGraph.asp?RunType=A&RunID=6060 

    My only concern would be the bridge between mile 6 & 7, I have run through that on my own and it is very narrow so if time hunting could cause a delay if you are with a group of runners but by the sounds of it shouldn't bother you too much you can time it for one of your walking sections. 

  • I ran this last year and although the route has changes slightly it is still fairly flat. There is a hill at about 9 1/2 miles as you come out of teardrop lakes which is quite steep to begin with and then drags on for about 1/4 mile but other than that its ok.

    And yes, the bridge could slow you down, although at my pace it doesn't really matter.

  • NaderNader ✭✭✭

    I'm yet to sign up but I'm planning to run this one. It starts less than a mile from my house so a very easy race for me to get to! I regularly run on the first few and last few miles of this course - it's a nice loop.

  • I'm thinking of running this. I saw from the thread that there were a few hiccups last year but it seems that the organisers are keen to improve in 2014. I'm not bothered at all by the medal but can anyone advise if it's a fast course? I've only run one HM, last year and would love to get a PB. But the one I did before (Brighton) was quite fast and flat. Also, would I be OK running this in normal road shoes or are trail shoes needed?

  • Normal road shoes will be fine. It's all on cycle paths.

    It's a fairly flat course with just a couple of inclines.

  • Hello All,

     

    I'm looking for a place in the 2014 MK Winter Half. If you have a race entry that you don't need, please PM me.

  • I did this for the 2nd time on Sunday and have to say their were a lot of improvements from last year but also still a couple of negatives.

    The slight changes to the course were good and the route overall was excellent. Run entirely on redways with lots of decent scenery. The infamous medal from last year was replaced with a fairly decent one and also a good t-shirt. The lack of a goody bag didn't bother me as I normally throw most of it away, but there was water and beet juice plus medal and t-shirt, so quite good.

    The toilets at the start were one of the negatives. Although more than last year, I think there was only 10 meaning that the queues before the start were massive and the start was delayed for about 5 mins. More required next year.

    The only other negative was at the finish. Last year there was an inside area for post race massage or changing. This year with the change of finish area there was no such facility which was a shame. I guess we were lucky again with the weather in that it was dry and (once started) not too cold.

    All in all a great race at a time of year when there are not too many others going on. Will be back again next year.

  • There were also Xmas biscuits and mince pies at the finish which I thought was cute. And I thought the medal was great, at the very least it's something different, I don't have any medals with snowflakes on!

  • Oh yes, I forgot the biscuits and mince pies. image

    Very impressed with the medal, especially after last years...

     

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