British 10k London Run - 8th July 2012

Couldn't find a thread about this one but noticed a few old threads about last years with a mix of feedback so thought I'd start a new one...

Entry for this one is £32.50 for ballot entry with a finishers medal or £50 guaranteed entry including 2 technical t-shirts, an official race photo (dependant on if they manage to snap you I suppose), and a finishers medal. Both prices seem a bit steep although you get a lot with the £50 package so in the grand scheme of things it might be worthwhile?

I'm still umming and erring about it but at the same time I'm worried all the places will fill up if I don't get in soon! Does anyone know how fast the places filled up last year and is anyone already signed up?
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Comments

  •   Personally,I would avoid like the plague.

  • personally I would rather do a local 10k - they tend to cost around £10 to £15, come with mementos, excellent organisation, easy to park near the start/finish and a great atmosphere and support  - what more could you want? Also, if you happen to be ill/injured on the day it isn't such a big deal!

    I looked at the cost of entering the Great North Run, and just thought it was ridiculous, would rather support and run the local half marathons...

  • Can't believe any 10k could be worth £2 let along £50 totallyagree with mathschick - support (2 or 3) local races for the cost of the British 10K
  • It's had shocking reviews in the past.
    There are plenty of other 10ks around.
  • If you want a big London 10k then do the Bupa 10k in May.  I suspect that might be full now though, but a note for future reference.  Its organised like clockwork by the London marathon team. 

    The British 10k is a shambles and run by people who seem to be motivated by money not sport.

  • I did it last year, because a charity I support was organising a team for it.

    I can't recommend it.

  • SlugstaSlugsta ✭✭✭
    I haven't done this race, so I can't comment from personal experience. However, I have read the threads every year, moaning about how bad the organisation was, and how rude the organisers are if anyone has a problem or complaint (to be fair, not everyone who posts thinks the race was bad, and I expect that many satisfied customers just go away and never think to post on a site like this). However, along with the extortionate entry fee, that would be enough to keep me away!
  • Thanks for all the replies. A friend of mine has already signed up for it and the 2 t-shirts and race photo do make the price slightly more bearable, but the comments about feedback are definitely offputting! Think I'll have to think about it a bit more before I commit...
  • I'm surprised to see that they have a ballot this year. I don't recall there being a problem getting in on previous years and wonder if its just a hype to get people to pay £50?  I'd be interested to know how many ballot entries are rejected.

  • Does the event tend to fill up? The Bupa one filled up pretty fast and I'm glad I got in for that one in time, but this race has 10,000 more people?

    Ah well - I've given in and gone for it. The £50 is harsh but it does seem like a pretty major one and if it's rubbish I just won't do it again the year after! I'm setting myself the goal of running as many races as I can this year and diverting the money I'd usually spend on nights out drinking to pay for events so in theory it shouldn't skint me out... image
  • I have done it twice before, but am doing BUPA this year. It's an OK race, but the things that count against it are :

    1. Value for money ? Not really

    2. If you like medals and goodies - crap bit of tin and naff all else.

    3. Organisation - not the best, but not bad enough to put a lot off (Remember, I did it twice !)

    4. £50 and 2 tech shirts - that's a new one this year

    5. fast time ? - If you want to set a PB, unless you can get to the front before the start (There aren't any pens) then possibly forget it, just treat it as another sunday morning training run

    The choice is yours

  • I think the t-shirts are just commemorative items this year because of the Olympics. As for fast time, I'm good at nudging my way to the front of big crowds - joys of being pretty short!! image Would've hoped it'd be a good medal though as it's such a big event?

    BTW just seen your Avatar Skippy - am guessing you're not at the game today? I live pretty close to Dagenham and wouldn't want to be anywhere near there today!!
  • MrsK8MrsK8 ✭✭✭
    Sorry Sonic but I think you've wasted your money. It is the worst race ever!

    They should be paying people to take part rather then ripping them off.

    I did it in 2010 & the organisation was just a shambles. There were no start pens & as I didn't want to line up for way in advance I ended up in about the middle. It took me ages to get to the start line after the gun went off & I also spent the first few kms dodging walkers so forget a PB.

    The medal was pure shite, it's the one in my collection I hate the most to the point I'm embarrassed for anyone to see.

    The cost is a rip off, £50 for a 10k?! You can run an extra 20 miles for £20 CHEAPER with the London marathon. The ballot seems unnecessary as it doesn't fill up that quickly. Bupa 10,000 is half the price of the ballot & the organisation is second to none (plus brilliant medal).

    They seem to always run out of water, bear in mind it's a summer race you would think they would plan to stock enough. But no they're greedy so cut costs because at the end of the day it's not them suffering in the heat.

    The list goes on about how bad it is, and if you think I'm being harsh I'm just being truthful! If they used the same effort they did on organising the race as they do slagging off the London Marathon people it could be improved, but hey where's the fun in that?!

    I do get a little bit frustrated with people asking what's it like, we give the feedback but they still enter anyway!
  • I entered last year - well in 2010 but read so much negative feedback decided to swallow the loss and didn't go. I don't get the impression I missed anything.

    You've entered, but anyone else reading this - find a local 10k and enter that instead. You're likely to get a medal, might get a t-shirt and all for under £20 - AND you don't have to try to get to London on a Sunday. Don't worry that it's a club runners' event, very few are exclusively and you get lots of casual runners. I've only run one event which I felt was very much for club runners and that was the Overton 5, but it was still a friendly event and there were still slow people - they join clubs too, just as you get fast runners who don't join clubs.
  • Hi Sonic, £50 for gty entry sounds ridiculous even including 2 tech shirts and a photo (although race pics are also expensive) and £32 to enter a ballot is just as bad, i've not heard anything good about this race, but hope for you and the organisers have been reading the feedback left about their race and use this to improve their race.

    You'll love the Bupa 10k expensive for a 10k too, but their organisation is spot on, I did the Bupa Edinburgh a few years back and had a great race from pre start to post finish.

    It is good to be part of a mass event but at £30 plus it had better be faultless, with the growing popularity of running, there is a lot of choice out there and people alway's have the option of voting with their feet.

    Best of luck and please let us know how it goes.

  • Huge thanks for all the feedback and yep I'll definitely report back on how it is. Not sure if it'll make any difference but I noticed it has previously been referred to as the 'Asics British 10k' but Asic's sponsorship seems to have vanished from the website so not sure if that'll make any difference? Also due to the amount of focus on London and sports because of the Olympics you would've thought they'd make a bigger effort this year - time will tell but if it's rubbish then I'll definitely be voting with my feet and will join everyone else in warning people off it next year! image
  • I suspect that Asics have dropped off due to not wanting to be associated with this race.  At least this year it looks like you don't have to pay extra to get chip timing. But its still a rip-off so hope you enjoy. After you've done the Bupa don't hold out the same expectations for organisation thats all.
  • I make that 8 people telling you it's pants in a row. And you still paid £50 to enter.

    If you're not interested in advice - don't bother asking ?
  • I did it last year, it's one of the worse races I've done to be honest, certainly the worst for value for money since it's also the most expensive.

    There are 2 positives - a scenic course (I have to say I tend not to notice my surroundings that much when I'm racing over 5K or 10K because I tend to be thinking about pace etc) and good support around the majority of the course. 

    I was close to the front for the start - but it meant waiting for an hour and a half without having any space to properly keep warm. I actually set a PB on the course, but unless you're at the front you've got no hope even though it's a flat course. I had friends further back who said they had no choice but to walk the first KM.

    The race was very late starting. You also have to wait while they have a marching band and play the national anthem. That might appeal to people, but you have about a 1% chance of seeing or hearing any of it if you're competing.

    There was a t-shirt last year, but it was a cotton t-shirt promoting the 2012 race, which I thought was a bit insulting to say to runners that this year's race wasn't as important. Why would I want a momento of the next year's race that I'm not doing?!

    I don't think it sold out last year, one of my friends signed up only a month or so in advance.

    I also don't remember what I paid last year but it was definitely less than £50. I do remember on your race number there was a form for guarenteed entry to the 2012 race and thinking it was extortionate though.

    My final grumble, there are no toilets provided. You are at least warned of this in advance, but because of the long wait it seemed like every single male that was ahead of me stopped in the bit where the road goes through a short tunnel to relieve themselves against the wall. However great this might have been for the position I finished in, I found it pretty awkward running past them all.

    I'm going to be looking for a different race in July. 

  • Cougie - I asked if it's worthwhile or not, but now I've heard a couple of my mates will also be running it I've decided to still give it a go and if it's rubbish at least it's still another event to add to my list of completed events and I can say 'I've done it'

    I do appreciate all the feedback and as I said, I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes. In my mind a technical t-shirt is about £10 and a professional photo is worth about £20 (although they often cost much more) and as I actually want these things, the leftover £20 for a major race isn't too harsh.
  • Fair enough but so long as new people insist on entering overpriced and certainly in the past not well reviewed races - the longer the cycle goes on

  • I can't believe this shambles of a race is still going let alone that the "organisers" ( I use the term very loosely) are now charging fify quid for the privilege of taking part.

    I used to think that this thing would gradually die the death it deserves but I now realise it can't possibly be full of first timers every year.

    I'm baffled, frankly. The whole thing verges on fraud in my book. Wasn't there a year where they actually ran out of medals?

  • Screamapillar wrote (see)
    Wasn't there a year where they actually ran out of medals?
    I did it last year and I wish they had run out of medals when I finished. A 2 year old child could've made a better medal than that. Im not saying I do these things for the medals, but if you pay a frankly obscene amount of money to enter a race (it was £35 last year and even that is about £20 too much!), then you expect a bit more than a tiny bit of crappy tin.

    There is nothing about this race that comes close to enticing me back again. As most people have said, £50 for a 10km race is lunacy. Local races organised by running clubs would be far more beneficial and enjoyable. I would hazard a guess that there will be nothing "technical" about the shirts either.
  • I'm a Londoner and it always amazes me how few big London races there are - Mara, this, Bupa 10k, Run to the Beat and Royal Parks. That's it. I'd suggest that's why it fills up - there just aren't that many opps to race around central London - which really is a great feeling.

    I did this one a few years back and totally hated it. Stupidly overcrowded and all the pomp made me feel as if I was at some kind of patriotic royalist rally. Rather than the usual buoyant feeling I actually race for, at the end of this one I felt deflated.

    That said if you're with mates you can have a laugh on the run and go for a pint after, there's worse ways to spend a Sunday.

  • I understand that the logistics of road closures will limit London road races but I can't fathom how this one has survived, especially when the Nike ones and others that were nicely contained in Hyde Park seem to have fallen by the wayside.
  • Yup, what happened to Nike's races? I did the one that started in Wembley Stadium and was emailing someone at Nike alot during that period and they were telling me there were plans for lots more - never happened.

    It's a shame that in Olympic year there isn't more races going on in london - or maybe we just don't know about them yet.
  • Hi,

    I also did this last year, as my very first 10k race with my dad. Both good and bad feedback really: yes it is very crowded until the 2nd or 3rd K and the medal wasnt highest quality - but I was very new to racing and didnt care much. Got an ok tshirt (slighly too large) and I always found the toilets, plenty at baggage drop-off and at the 5k mark, the Qs werent terrible. It was too hot on the day and unfortunately my fellow runners were throwing their bottles by the side of the road (never seen this before?) - some tripped over, and there was zig-zaging to avoid them, which was such a shame. I didnt manage to spot the photographers so my photos look mediorcre. On the other hand, my dad who I was running with, managed a PB (by holding back when crowded and sprinting after the 5K mark), and got an amazing photo with Big Ben as a background! Overall, I sympathize with the general feeling that this race is expensive and there are too many people (and definatety needs some starting pens!) but I believe that for most non-locals the experience of running through central london is priceless. I havent yet signed up for the 2012 race (waiting to see how my knee reacts to this season) but I think I might provided things work out health-wise.

    Good luck!

  • Johnny2323 wrote (see)
    Yup, what happened to Nike's races? I did the one that started in Wembley Stadium and was emailing someone at Nike alot during that period and they were telling me there were plans for lots more - never happened. It's a shame that in Olympic year there isn't more races going on in london - or maybe we just don't know about them yet.
    Yeah, I'm still wating for North V South the rematch image
  • The Nike running clubs seem to have had a total revamp over the last year so maybe more races will be organised in the near future image
  • I just want to take part in the 'Nike River Run' - seems like a great race...

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