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Worst runs in Britain - please!
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If RW wouldn't publish the 'Worst runs in the UK' article, then they might at least let us search for them in a database of UK runs, searchable by overall rating - then we could legitimately discover them for ourselves.
RW has got the data - they know the culprits!
The data is already there. Runners review the race. It's up to people to check out an event before they enter. More fool them if they don't. I have little sympathy.
In 100+ races I've been largely lucky to avoid too many mishaps.
Probably 2 that stand out, was doing a 10k at Henley when there was also a half marathon on. They set the half off 5mins before the 10k, with quite a tight walled in road after about half a mile.
Obvious obvious outcome? That's right, us at the front of the 10k hit an absolute ROADBLOCK of the back of the half, meaning we had to literally skip and dance a route through for about 2miles.
Only to be greeted by a finish line later on with no clock, and the realisation that that minimum expectation, actually timing the run hadn't happened. Obviously that was a pb that day!
Another 10k,a marshall had not bothered to get in position early enough, (also when doing the 10k with a half on), meaning most of the front of the field went the wrong way and carved off 1/2 km
I was one of 2 in the front 15 who went the right way, but lost a bunch of places to people who cut the course and came in at the other end of the last field
Oh oh one more while I'm here...Wokingham half a few years ago....generally a terrific event, managed to add 7 secs to everyone's times. Even the front runners had 7 secs variance between gun and chip when they'd started on the front line.
Plenty complained. The outcome? They added another 7secs onto the chip! Wrong way round dummies! Therefore, 14secs added on. Lucky the pb was smashed that day and I had time to spare.
Grr.
For me it was The Resolution 10k in Finsbury Park. A tenner and a race down the road was inviting. The marshalling was terrible. I was in 2nd place and went wrong when there was no marshall at a crucial spot. One marshall was so uninterested that he was reading a book. I shouldn't have worried since no times or positions were even recorded. What was the point in having a race when nobody gave a shite where you came. No more Resolution races for me. I learned my lesson.
You jogged my mind, of a race where a marshall had probably the worst position ever.
As I ran up a road, there was a straight ahead, or sharp turn to the left.
The genius marshalls had taken a position behind a hedge, out of sight, meaning I carried on up the road, before somehow noticing them in the corner of my eye, and saying which way...
oh...left is it? Then maybe you should FACE the oncoming runners, and stop them carrying on in the straight line you're told to follow!
1. The hill at the end was too steep
2. The drinks only came in cups, about 90% of the races I do have the drinks in cups! So can't really class that as a complaint.
The rest of the race seems awful.
Just shows the knob heads who enter races like that. People who judge a race on how good the "goody bag" was like a six year old at a birthday party. Like I said. They deserve what they get.
Thames Gateway 100.
If these guys don’t amend their ways, they are going to get somebody killed before they are done.
Yes, that is a shocking read - thanks to the good Dr for the link
Bloody hell Run to the Beat is geting an absolute kicking, I didn't do the event but the only way to teach these systers is to take them to the small claims court.
I wonder if the lawyers will get involved in situations like this in the future? If all 9000-15000 (or whatever it was) runners at the race signed up for a class-action lawsuit (didn't get what they paid for etc) it would certainly be worth it for a lawyer to be involved (and for the runners). It would certainly make the organisers sit up and think...
What is really needed ,as was metioned earlier, is for one of the magazines / podacsts to start naming and shaming the culprits. But I expect they rely on these races for a lot of advertising revenue so will always brush these issues under the carpet.
Inreresting to note that 7% would run the "run to the beat" again - even though nobody has actually said they would run it again. The 7% is actually made up of "maybe" votes.
Wow, it sounds awful - one review reminds me of the sort of dream I have before a race where you I can't find your way and keep being diverted through people's houses
But 50 quid - shocking!
What annoys me about these events is that they quite often ignore the local running community, in fact they sometimes deliberately avoid them.
I was wary of Basingstoke Half Marathon when I heard it was being planned and was going to be organised by a non-running albeit non-profit making company "Destination Basingstoke".
I emailed them with a few questions, I made a few suggestions and before I knew it I was a part of the event organisation.
They have taken on board all that runners have said before and after each event, including the criticisms and we now, after just two years, have a very succesful event.
That doesn't mean things can't go wrong, they can, but at least for the events that I'm involved in it won't be due to commercial reasons or for not understanding what runners need.
Fifty Quid
For a run with some lame music?
I think the most amazing thing about the RTTB reviews is that people are saying that this is the second or 3rd time they have run it. I can understand people running it once and being disappointed but how stupid are these people - would they go back to a restaurant where they got food poisoning?
Is it that bad? Assuming that I don't get in London I was planning on doing this next April, the impression that I had (perhaps wrongly) got was that the first year the problems were made far worse due to the rain and this year was much better?
Having run hundreds of races over the years the worst i have run is last year's Run To The Beat, everything about it was shite a complete rip off with the main objective to make as much money as possible, i would'nt enter this race again even if it was free.Second worst is The Welsh Half Marathon, no actual start line you just join the runners running the full marathon as they passed by, mile markers all over the place, according to their markers i ran the first mile in under 4mins & the last over 12 mins, a absolute joke of a road race.
And lets not forget the infamous BHF midnight half marathon. Start was at 12 midnight. when we got there half the field had already started. No traffic closures so we had to wait for the green man at crossings. Dodging drunks through the first few miles and no times, places or anything else recorded.
I think that a trend is emerging: "Wow, that was such a crap race this year, that the organisers must learn from their mistakes, and it's got to be better next year. I'll enter next year's race to benefit from the improvements that they must be making (surely)."
What we (as human runners) can't understand is how a race could get worse from year to year. They do though - with more runners the problems are magnified yet further and the races (they have been named further up this thread) get worse and worse.
Organisers should shun greed and cap (or reduce) the number of runners. They never do though.
RW can play its part, by naming and shaming (as have the posters to this thread!)
If only 1,000 sign up next year then they may do something about it. I have a funny feeling it will be a sell-out once again though.
You're right, Millsy. It happens year after year with RttB and the British 10k shambles.
There is no incentive to the organisers to improve things while the event is a sell-out, so why would they bother?
My friend (who should have known better) did RttB this year tells me that she's had a text from the organisers saying all entrants will get £10 back. So that's alright then!
That's a bargain!
I wish there was a 'like' button on RW for spot-on posts.
I'm assuming that none of these races have an official race permit.
EA should put pressure on local councils not to accept a race that hasn't got a race permit from, in England, England Athletics or other suitable organisation.
There are a lot of people who buy Nike Free becasue they think it looks cool and/or they like Nike. Similarly there are a lot of folks who dont enter races often but do get involved when Nike put a 5k, 10k, or whatever together.
They might join the bandwagon moaning about nike but you can bet that a sizeable chuck of them will continue to pay nike for these events and remain ignorant about better organised events.
In these times of austerity I would imagine that they just see evemnts like this as a potential source of income. Payment for the road closures and the boost to the local economy of 10s of thousands of runners and supporters being in the area when they wouldn't normally be.