British 10k London Run - 8th July 2012

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Comments

  • Not got mine yet. I'm glad there's a paper number as well save my wife a lot of work.
  • A few thoughts on 'shirt gate '



    1) Policy probably dreamt up by someone in 'branding' sipping a skinny wet mocha with organic soy milk, who has never run for a club or charity.

    2) Why is there a race number and 4 safety pins in the pack? To me this screams wear what you like.

    3) How would one be able to run in fancy dress? I can think of few classic outfits which revolve around a black dri-fit t shirt with a green union jack.

    4) My medium is SMAAAAAAALL.

    5) It may or may not be UKA but a lot of club runners enjoy running in their own colours. Exactly the same goes for charity runners, to an even greater extent for the thousands with personal reasons for their charity. It would be a massive own goal to force, say, an injured soldier to take off a help for heroes / British legion top!

    6) I'm approaching with an open mind (in club vest and bloody early).
  • I stil haven't got my race pack and have only seen here that some people have tried to contact Nike about this but with no success. Did people get a contact number? I am really annoyed as I was really looking forward to this race and now I have no number or anything! image 

  • My running partner has torn 2 ligaments in her foot and can't run this 10k. As the entry is so dear, can someone else wear her t-shirt and run her race instead? 

    Can this person be of the opposite sex and of a very different age? Will they get noticed and pulled out of the race? And is this common practice?

    I can't find any info re. this scenario on their website, so any advice would be much appreciated.

     

  • It's not a race as such - more of a fun run. Unless your mate will win it - go for it.
  • Ha ha! Good point Cougie, no way she's gonna win it. Thanks image

  • For info of all taking part...emailed the admin people when I got my race pack through asking about the tshirt / race number thing.



    They said although it is Nike's goal to have everyone wear the same, you won't get turned away if you're not wearing it.
  • Matthew Thomas 6 wrote (see)
    For info of all taking part...emailed the admin people when I got my race pack through asking about the tshirt / race number thing.

    They said although it is Nike's goal to have everyone wear the same, you won't get turned away if you're not wearing it.

    That's brilliant Matthew. And congratulations on getting an answer out of them. I've tried email and twitter over the last few days and heard absolutely nothing back. I'm six foot seven and the race shirt they sent out just about gets down to my shorts!

    Now I've only got to worry about how early to get there. I want to try to balance staying dry against not starting behind 20,000 people...

  • Shambles, shambles, shambles, still packs missing, wrong tshirts for those that have arrived! So looking forward to Sunday! Not
  • Disappointed with this event today. Too many people all set off at the same time. I couldn't get past people. Staggered start would've been much better. And I wonder who the genius was that put the toilets in front of the water station around 5k. Queue backed up to the water station so people couldn't get through and had to stop.
  • I have to say I was quite impressed with the event, after reading some of the negative reviews about past years. A couple of criticisms would be that they really need some way of separating the runners from the walkers at the start. I got quite far to the front (started 3 mins after the gun) and I was passing walkers within 100m (why go to the front if you are walking???). Also, I did not see one toilet from baggage drop to start line, which was annoying. Why not have them next to baggage?

     

    Overall though, I thought it was fairly well organised and there was great support even in pretty miserable weather. As a fun run, I really enjoyed it (and the sprint to the finish to get my sub 50 min time, 49.48, was painful but rewarding! image

     

    Maybe it should start in one of the parks in the future to let them use starting pens? 

  • I agree with most of the above. I'm not a huge fan of road racing but was coerced into signing up through a charity at work.  The toilet situation was horrendous! I queued inside MacDonalds for half an hour before the race in desperation. I thought this meant I would get nowhere near the front but, being on my own, I just slipped my way through the crowds and started within 30 seconds of the gun.  Still spent the first 2kms dodging slow people which was very annoying but not too disappointed with my time (44.07!) They said it's too difficult to put the wave starts up there but I don't think it was impossible - they could have done colour coded numbers and race pens. Well done to everyone who ran anyway, I was actually grateful for the monsoon cooling me down image

  • Being near the front made a huge difference. Hats off to the marshalls who had to move us around - they did a great job in following some slightly odd plans and kept 30,000 people fairly well corralled. I was pretty much at the start (10-15 rows back) and got round quickly enough to see people still starting!



    Support pretty fantastic and the km splits are nice. Agree that walkers and runners shouldn't be released together but echo the sentiment that if you know you're trying to jog it in 90mins, don't elbow your way to the front and be surprised when the many sub 40 runners brush you on the way past.
  • Toilet post script: there were loads of porta loos at the individual runner (non charity or corporate) bag drop:



    A) If you got there early; and

    B) remebered from the map where they were as there were no signs!
  • Alec Laing wrote (see)
    Toilet post script: there were loads of porta loos at the individual runner (non charity or corporate) bag drop:

    A) If you got there early; and
    B) remebered from the map where they were as there were no signs!

    Ah, I was in the charity bag drop. Was hoping to see some at the side of the road on the way to the start but no luck. Held it in! image

  • Despite really looking forward to this this race (badged as the opportunity to run part of the Olympic marathon course and sponsored by nike - or ACIS when I originally signed up!) I have to say that this was a real disappointment.

    Firstly the organisation was terrible. Only a few of the stewards appeared to know anything about the race - ie where the limited toilets and baggage bays were and at the end where to get medals and bags from. Better signage wouldn't go amiss if you aren't going to invest in educating your stewards. The baggage bays were exposed to the elements so when it rained your bag and its contents stood a good chance of getting soaked. The toilets (public or those provided) were poorly signposted in the brochure map, so those who did not know Central London too well joined the queue at Cafe Nero in Trafalgar even though there was a free loo across the square.

    Because the brochure advised that runners would not be separated, I got to the start area at 8 in an attempt to get off quickly, towards the front. So did a good percentage of runners and walkers so I spent the first 5k running around walkers and slow runners - this distracted from the really good, easy route. Perhaps runners could be separated by colour coded numbers on their Nike shirts in future?

    The crowd was really amazing and, although I am not a fan, I was pretty impressed that they got Heather Small to sing at the start of the race. Rather than have a guy trying to inspire everyone (we were already there) how about getting someone to lead some warm up exercises: after 1 hour and 45 minutes waiting in the rain I  could have done with this! 

    The goody bag was a disappointment. It contained a tea bag, a sweet, a small bag of pistacios, a small sachet of sugar and some leaflets. Yes we got a Nike dri-fit shirt posted to us but after waiting and running in the rain it would have been nice to be greeted by a cereal bar or a piece of fruit too. The medal was pretty insignificant too. 

    Finally the process of getting the event shirt at the end was another example of how little the event organisers had thought about the layout. Those queuing for a shirt managed to block off one of the entrances as well as access to some of the luggage bays as well asthe loos hidden at the end of the bays. It was hard to know who was queuing for what.

    I'm in two minds about signing up for next years event. The course was good (excellent for a beginner) but the pessimist in me doubts that the organisers would have resolved all the complaints that have been outstanding for some years (more toilets, better signage etc).

  • This was the worst organised events that I have ever been to. The bag storage was, in my opinion,  disrespectful to peoples property considering the high entry fee. It was placed in the gutter which was a puddle and exposed to the rain. Get a tent or some trucks like everyone else does.

    The second T-shirt that gold entries were entitled to was to be collected after the race. People were helping themselves long before the race and then in panic they started giving them out.

    The start was so slow and no one was advised where to line up relative to their pace. The elite runners had finished long before we got to the start line and there was still 200 metres of people behind us. Why not start it in Hyde Park and use the available space?

    Great run, which I enjoyed a lot though. But overall, I won't be back unless it is better organised in future. It is a real shame that some runners did not get a medal though.

  • Well after the bad-news build-up and two weeks off running due to an ankle injury, I actually really enjoyed the race today!

    Yeah the organisation wasn't top notch and it was a long walk from the baggage bays to the start, but the race itself was good - the route was scenic and entertaining (the screens, projectors in the tunnel and non-stop Big Ben's tolling made the event very different from the normal local events I'm used to) - I went for the Gold Entry and am very happy with the commemerative t-shirt and am looking forward to my race photo - and the medal is a great one to add to my collection (I'm a bit of a medal magpie).

    It was also good to see that there was plenty of bottles of water (as I remember someone complained about them running out of water which was in cups previously) and if they sort out starting pens for next year the event itself will be hugely improved.  However, I'll be interested to see if Nike are sponsoring it again next year when the Olympics aren't round the corner as this and whether starting pens are introduced may be my decider factors although if I do enter next year I'll be going for the cheaper ballot entry.

    As for my orginial question - is the race worth the high entry fee - I think it was for today's event with the amount of stuff included in the gold package but maybe not for any other year.

  • Like always Nike get involved with their over the top marketing magic (pretty colours, fancy tshirt and a bunch of inspirational one liners) and completely neglect the really important stuff... The runners!

    Extremely dissapointed with the whole thing.

    Starting with the bag drop. This race costs more than double than most other races so i do not undertand why they could not predict it would rain and invest a few pounds in some cover for the thousands of bags left to soak.

    The start for me takes the biscuit! Sub 40 minute runners behind walkers and Nike deciding that about 200 coroporate or charity runners (not sure who they were) jumped the queues and should be place right behind the 20 elite runners. So you had about 20 elite 25 to 35 minute runners, then about 200 charity/corporate 50 to 80 minute runners, then the 2-3 thousand 35 to 42 minute runners.

    I do not care much for a goodie bag or for a race picture but for £50 I expected a good organisation, some energy drinks stations, some fruit at the end, a staggered start and for my bag not to get drenched.

    Please Nike do not get involved next year so we can bring racing back to the runners instead of all the corporate bullshit that gets in the way of the running.

  • WexterWexter ✭✭✭

    I will put myself down to maybe doing this again when I reviewed the race but would not run this run. Thought it would be great running around London a few weeks before the Olympics. As I can just about run sub 50 minute 10 K's  I found it frustrating there were no staggerred starts. To spend a race trying to squeeze through people is not a fun race. My running application on my phone registered 10.4 k , so could have possibly run a personal best if I was not constantly weaving on the course which is frustrating.

  • This was my first experience of such a large 10k and I don't think I'll be rushing to sign up next year.  I did manage to get near the start line but was still held up by quite a few people in the first 500-800 metres, which ultimately meant I didn't get sub-40 and it obviously frustrating.  I think the price is prohibitive and don't think I'll try to do this next year.  I think the number of distractions once you were in position was ridiculous.  I was starting to get cold and it felt like we were never going to start at one point.  The route is quite scenic but, as others have commented, you often just don't notice the landmarks.  I genuinely only recall seeing Big Ben around the 9k mark but beyond that was pretty oblivious.  From an organisational standpoint I thought there was an absence of signs both before and after the race and this just about summed it up.  I think I will stick to local 10k events.

  • WexterWexter ✭✭✭

    I had a chip time sent to me by text with a gun time but my name or time is not on the chip times site.

     

  • Wexter wrote (see)

    I had a chip time sent to me by text with a gun time but my name or time is not on the chip times site.

     

    There's a chip times site?  

  • do theBupa 10k. 10,000 runners, covered (secured) baggage areas, penned starts, toilets everywhere, controlled waters stations, good medal and goodie bag all for £26. People still walking at 1k though.....

  • I have to agree on the poor organization, I was really excited about this run but the experience made an already grim and rainy day even more disappointing. There was a lack of safety stewards, a free for all on the starting line; including family members / friends waiting with runners and no clear directions. Trying to force that many people up piccadilly was clearly a bad idea, this was my first time so I'm not sure if it normally starts there.

    The bag area was chaos, I wasn't even checked when I went to pick up my bag, I walked over and took it and it was soaking wet due to lack of cover. I also witnessed a brawl where too many people were trying to access and it meant pushing your way through which led to a fight.

    I agree with the Bupa recommendation, it's organized, safe, and clear what to do and when for novice runners like me. Plus the level of runner was staggered at the beginning so you don't get experienced runners frustrated with the less experienced and vice versa, less experienced able to go at their own pace without feeling like they are getting in the way. It's always going to be a bit of a wait to start, but yesterday felt like we would get crushed in a stampeded if one thing went wrong.

     

     

  • Hmmm mainly crap reviews as ever. Its bound to sell out again next year...

  • Re CHIP TIMES:



    http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/



    Apologies for lack of direct hyperlink, on phone... Look for race results at the top. Actually a very comprehensive results page, but not linked from the official Nike vanity website.
  • I didn't take part in this run, but my wife did - I came along to support her. but my comments -

    1) Baggage area was terrible - a few gazebos wouldn't have gone amiss. bags just got soaked, as did their contents.

    2) would have been useful to have expected timeslots for runners to line up in - my wife was hoping for something like 46 mins, but said fighting through slower runners/walkers over the first 1-2K was a pain.

    3) As a spectator, I was at the finish. The PA there was blasting out boomy 'music' - occasionally, I could here something from speakers further down the course which actually gave some info about the lead runners. But the finish PA just had woman (some sort of Davina McCall type) who was trying to gee the crowd up bawling " are you enjoying yourself" to the spectators or similar drivel. When the first runner came in, she was dancing around, saying well done etc, but not a word on who the first runners were at all.

    Will either my wife or I do it next year? Given the cost - not just the entry but travelling to London for it - most likely not.

     

  • I have to agree with the others, this was one of the most badly organised races Iv been to!

    Lots of slow runners at the front and fast runners at the back meant you spent most of your time dodging people walking at 2-3K!!!  Really should of had has waves like they do with the great run series!  No pace setters which are a nice to have but I think they would have struggled in the chaos anyway.

    By the time we starting they were announcing that the elite runners were finishing and we still hadn’t broken into a run!

    Absolute chaos as you crossed the line, bit of a struggle to get water that were dumped on the side of the road, then wondering around trying to work out where to get your medal, no one to ask or advise. Then, having given up, we went to get our bags, struggling to get through with all the non runners in the way everywhere, our bags had been left out in the rain so all our dry clothes to change into were now wet, no one was there to get the bag so I went a took it and no one check it was my bag, (great security!!!) and we found the pack and medals dumped on table and everyone, even non runners were helping themselves!  It really doesn’t surprise me that not everyone got a medal

    The queue for the gold sign up t-shirt was a joke, pushing a shoving is not what I sign up to after running 10K and there didn’t seem to be any restriction on who got the shirts, does make me wonder why I paid so much!

    Very disappointing given it had such potential, great venue, lots of runners and an Amazing crowd cheering us on especially down by Embankment tube station!

    Having done the Wimbledon Common 10K the previous week, which cost £10, a clear and scenic route, a covered baggage bay and friendly face to hand me a medal and some water at the end I know where I’ll spend my money next year!

  • kaffeegkaffeeg ✭✭✭
    It was the running equivalent of trying to get on a tube at rush hour: over priced, badly organised, too many people, everyone thinking their journey is more important than yours (cutting you up), so you realise the only way to progress is to turn just as aggressive (I then started cutting people up) and you arrive at your destination stressed out.



    P.s by 'cutting up' I mean moving I front of them and nearly tripping them up rather than anything illegal.
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