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Thank you to all spring participants who submitted feedback.
We wanted to give feedback to our whole community on how we will develop our event for the Summer edition.
As an organisation we believe events can always improve, and we use this feedback to help guide us.
Please check out the updates ahead of the summer event:
EVENT ROUTE AND DISTANCE
It was very difficult to get an accurate measurement of the route during our course checks and we erred on the side of caution by extending the route to ensure it was at least 10km.. We believe the route was 200-300m longer than it should have been and can now adapt the approach to the finish to get the distance as close as we can to 10km.
We placed over 120 course signs on the route. Now the route has been tested by over 300 people we can adapt our signage plan based upon feedback where the route was confusing or placement of signs can be improved.
We had twelve people register for volunteering but unfortunately only three people turned up on the day. We know that we need a bigger event team / more marshals and recruitment will start now for the summer event.
Leonardslee Gardens planned to have a hot drinks unit in the field at the start / finish and a stretch tent with picnic benches but the decision was made just before the event that the grass was too soft to drive the equipment in / put the structures in place. This is due to the record levels of rainfall in Feb / Mar. We hope it won’t rain as much for June, October and December, and will discuss contingencies if heavy rainfall affects us in the future.
We planned the start corrals around the predicted finish times many of you gave us upon entry. We will adapt the start corral layout and continue to communicate how the event will operate.
We purposely created a pinch point in the start corrals to thin runners going out on the course. There have been reports of overcrowding on the route, which from our planning we did not expect. We are working through our event team feedback and will adapt our start process to reduce the chances of congestion on the route.
Unfortunately, we received two noise complaints from local residents as soon as the PA was turned on. We had pointed the speakers away from the residents to try to ensure the sound did not travel in the residents' direction but this was not adequate. We are working with the team at Leonardslee Gardens around solutions for the future because while event briefings are important, we must also respect the people that live nearby.
There are two taps providing drinking water in the field used. We wanted to run the route directly past one of the taps, to provide an aid station around 4 km but the field was water-logged in the approach to the tap and we would have created significant damage to the grass, so we chose to stay on the gravel path.
A second tap was adjacent to the finish line. In future we will use a slightly different location for the start / finish line allowing easier access to the drinking water before, during and after the event.
We decided it was better to provide free event photos to capture your run, rather than provide goody bags that are often unsustainable and not welcomed. We will work with Leonardslee Gardens to see if we can provide a post-event snack and hope to maintain the ability to provide free photos.
We will work with the data we now have to improve the km markers location
We are considering ways of offering chip timing without having to increase the entry fee, although we have had just as many requests to not time the event…
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