Claire House Excalibur Marathon

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Comments

  • TR40 - really sorry to hear that.

    Clwydian - the GPX that you kindly sent worked a treat. When there was he odd variation it was always obvious. Indeed I never had to look at the map

    I thought that was a good hard course and very enjoyable. My 5.48 was pretty modest but it was 3rd Mara in 8 days and it sure felt like it.

    With a few tweaks the race has the potential to become a real classic. I don't think people would object to paying more either, as it is a charity fund raiser. The soup was welcome at the pub but you would have struggled if you werent carrying everything you need food wise. Luckily I treat these type of events like a bit of a rolling picnic and pack accordingly.

    Any results knocking around yet?
  • Sorry to hear about your car and esp the rings.   I have never worked out why people do that.

    I did it in a very modest 6.27 and really struggled with some of the hills.   Need to spend some more time on these.   I prob could of done it quicker but did enjoy it.   Good preparation for my first ultra in May which is what I hoped for.

  • Hi spen

    Sorry we missed you mate we had no mobile signal!! Well done, it was a great eventimage

  • NO probs TR40.    My signal was very hit and miss.   That last hill was a one!!!!!!

    I am sure we will meet again somewhere.

  • Hello Everyone,

    Thanks to all the runners and walkers who took part!
    It was a fantastic day, and we were absolutely overwhelmed with the positive response from all of you!

    The race times are just being calculated, and a couple of errors being corrected and I will get them up online for Tuesday 3rd April.

    We have learnt a lot from this years event, which was a first year, and after a debreif session with the local council and forestry service we will make a decision on next years event. Fingers crossed that we will have the event again next year!

    We are open to all constructive criticism from all the runners, the main points are listed below, so if you do have any other points, please feel free to email me and I will respond to all messages.

    The main points moving forwards:

    1 - The stamp system, was at times confusing, and it was easy to miss certain stamps.

    2 - Sign-age. A big issue for all marathons. Although self navigation is essential, we could have offered more support at certain points, which we will definitely be looking at for the future.

    3 - Litter. This was our only major concern. Majority of our runners were very good with their empty bottles and sachets, but we did unfortunately have a number of people littering the route. We did a sweep of the course and removed as much as possible, but for future events we will tackle this issue head on!

    4 - The Numbers. The self-adhesive numbers were a great idea in principle, but in practice they were not right of this race. We will amend this for the future events and go for the pinned option.

    5 - Parking. Unfortunately, our hands were tied with this because the site is still open to the public. The only area available to us for parking was the top car park. We will look at other options, and possibly moving the finish line and will report back on that one!

    I hope you all agree that the above points are all minor issues and that the event as a whole was a really enjoyable day!
    Im glad that so many of you commented on how well the route worked!

    Thank you to all of you who dropped you sponsorship money off on the day, and those of you who made donations to the hospice!

    Anyone who is yet to collect their sponsor money can either pay their money in by cheque, or call me to make a card payment.

    And if anyone else would like to make a donation to Claire House in lieu of sponsorship please use the same methods.

    I look forward to seeing your event reviews online, please be honest but if you can also take into account that it was a pilot year it would be much appreciated.

    I hope to see you all next year, and will let you all know as soon as possible once a decision has been made on the 2012 Event.

    Kind regards

    Mr Daniel Thomas
    dant@claire-house.org.uk
    0151 343 0883

    Event Fundraiser
    Claire House Children's Hospice
  • Thankyou for the event...

    I am an ultra runner and until last weekend i had never officialy ran a marathon distance race, i used it as a training run and found it to push me just enough to feel it the next day... The course was great especially since  the first 11-12 miles did try to lure you into a false sense of security before slapping you in the face for the final 10! 

    Great race great day!

    Thanks.image

  • An absolutely fabulous event, being local I am extremely pleased that someone has seen fit to stage this kind of event  on the Clwydian playground...The organisation was superb and I would not have guessed that this was the first time staged. My only suggestion for improvements would be signage on Moel Arthur where the path leaves Offas Dyke through the gorse and also off the peak to re join Offas Dyke path at the fence line.  Some stamps were easy to miss so maybe an early warning sytem of Checkpoint 50 yds ahead or something similar maybe good. As for litter it was a slight problem- maybe bins within 100yds of checkpoints to dump waste in? or plastic cups to gulp and go!! Overall SUPERB!

  • Hi,

    Dan - it really didn't feel like a 1st time event, well done to you and your team!

    I walked it, I'm slowly working up to fell running, and it was a good day in the hills... A very good day in the hills!

    I polluted cyberspace with a blog http://walkingforheartkids.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/sword-in-stone.html

    Thanks again!

    Paul

  • Excellent event and thanks to all those who organised it.

    It was very disappointing to see the amount of litter and that is down to the runners not the organisers. Given that every runner was required to carry some kit then every runner would have had a backpac of some description and therefore will have had somewhere to put their litter. So no excuse.

    Didn't see the need for cards being stamped as no-one checked them at the end. Personally I would do away with the stamping system as it serves no useful purpose unless they are religiously checked at the end.

    Thanks again for a great event and looking forward to the next one.

    Richard

  • Really agree about the litter. It's disgraceful. People shouldn't be allowed to carry bottles away from water stations. Most people who carried the required kit would have been topping up their own containers but there were a lot of people on the hill carrying very little in the way of safety kit and I'm sure it was the same people who dumped half empty bottles soon after the stations.

    I enjoyed the event and would possibly do it again. The time of year is a difficult thing though as in other years we could have had proper winter conditions up there and the race would have been an epic.

  • I agree about the litter.   I topped my bottles I carried with me and left the bottles at CPs.   Great event,  it has really given me the bug to keep off the roads.

  • Totally agree about the litter...no need

    Had a great run...went off course early on though, was expecting a checkpoint at a 4way junction and it wasn't there, was in the mist so ended up doing an extra 3 miles!! BUT that was my fault, live and learn...It also happened to be the only bit I didnt recce...dohhh.

    Overall it was a great day out and a lovely place to run, great people, great marshalls,

    Please please please let us know asap about a 2013 race..I am so looking forward to having another crack at this..

  • Re Parking.

     We arrived at about 8:40am and were directed by a marshall into the event car park itself!  So, no walk to the start!  Can't understand why some had to park up the top car park and on the roadside.....was it because these had filled up and thats why we were directed into the event car park?  It obviously wasnt just for visitors when we arrived then.........didnt have to pay either.

  • Hey,
    I'd like to echo all the positive comments about the race, yeah there were a few minor niggles but I absolutely loved the course and thought your marshals were fab too.
    I also wanted to say thanks to all the other runners. Clywidian- thanks for all your pre-race briefing it really did help and cheers to everyone who provided such great company round the course - particularly the chap with his dog who stopped me straying off the route on Moel Arthur.
    Hopefully catch some of you again next year.
  • The 2013 event has appeared on the Claire House web site. Scheduled for Sunday March 31st - which is Easter Sunday and the day after the clocks go forward, so those early starts will feel even earlier.

    I'm really looking forward to running it again. This event was my first marathon and I enjoyed the longer distance so much that I've gone on to do another two off-road marathons since and have another booked in for January.

  • Great news, i'll go and have a lookie now.  Its only down the road and my training ground, so i must do it!

  • No more information available yet but the date has been changed on the claire House site. New date is 23rd March - which should be a bit more popular.

  • Waiting for entry information..........

  • hi gibbo here.

     i ran the 2012 race

    .My god it was hard.

    are the entries open yet for the 2013 race.image

  • Entered and looking forward to it...
  • Last minute entry, the route looks great with plenty of climbs to keep us on our toes image

  • Lst minute entry for me too Tracy Dean, looks like being a bit of a weather challenge on Saturday!

  • MARATHON POSTPONED
    Due to weather warnings of heavy snow, minus temps and high winds.
    Details on facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/ExcaliburMarathon

  • WonaWona ✭✭✭

    no links work,,is the 2014 race on?

  • Hi Wona, the 2014 race is on - its on Saturday 10 May and you can register at  www.conquerexcalibur.org.uk 

  • Any route info anywhere - it references the 2013 route but i cant find it online.

    Its nice and local to me but by god thats hilly!

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