I was really looking forward to taking part in the Winchester Half, but unfortunately, I never made it to the start line due to the severe motorway issues on the day. Like many other runners, I was caught in the disruption and ultimately couldn’t reach the event despite setting off in good time. While I understand that traffic and unforeseen events can happen, I was disappointed by the lack of communication from the organisers — both during the situation and afterwards. There was no acknowledgment or update for those affected, even though hundreds of participants were unable to attend. Afterwards, I contacted Challenging Events to ask about a refund or some form of support. My initial email received a brief, unhelpful reply, and my many follow-up messages have since been ignored. It’s disheartening to feel that participants who faced genuine, documented issues were not treated with much understanding or care. It’s a real shame, as the event itself seems to be well-regarded by those who managed to take part, but my personal experience with the organisation and communication has been very disappointing. I hope future events will handle unexpected situations and participant communication more proactively.

The true measure of a great event is not how it runs on a good day, but how well it copes with adversity - and the Winchester Half did the latter exceptionally well when major motorway closures near the course impacted event staff, participants and surrounding roads. Though the delayed start was not ideal, the early notice of this and frequent, clear updates allowed runners to adapt accordingly, while work went on behind the scenes to get the race off to a successful (if late!) start. The course itself was great, exactly what you’d expect from this area of England with climbs, descents and LOTS of undulations through pleasant city streets, quiet villages and beautiful countryside. Though challenging (especially for someone who is by no mean ‘strong’ on hills!), the comprehensive pre-race information and clear course maps made planning for the terrain as easy as it could be. The marshalling was excellent, with plenty of enthusiastic volunteers at all critical points, and locals and family & friends out in force made for an incredibly supportive environment. Parking was very easy in the free multi storey 5 mins from the start, and there were good public toilets around too - though in the immediate lead-up to the race these became busy and loo roll became scarce, which is one of only a couple of points for potential improvement. The chip timing was accurate and the medals were good quality, with a unique design that was relevant to the event. The bottle of water and banana at the end were very welcome, but as I lie in bed writing this I can’t help but think I should have joined the queue for a free massage too! All in all an excellent event and I’m very happy to have chosen it for my first half, with plans to return next year to take on the hills again!

First and most important, this was a lovely event, the weather was perfect, the marshals exceptionally cheerful and encouraging, and the route, though hilly, is delightful, including historic Winchester as well as quiet countryside and the pretty village of Hursley. Second, the organisers faced some difficulties though no fault of their own: there was an incident on the M3 motorway which led to long delays and among the vehicles stuck in traffic was a critical part of the traffic management team (as well as quite a few runners). This meant a delay to the start of 1 hr 15 minutes; it could have been longer and credit to the organisers and volunteers for all their hard work adapting to the circumstances and enabling the race to go ahead. All that said, there were a few little things that could have been better. I'm pretty sure some of the mile signs were missing, maybe stuck on the motorway? It's a race with nearly 1,000 runners but only the first three male and female get prizes; it seems a shame to me, as an older runner, that there are no age category awards, and even the results page shows age categories in 10 year bands; 5 year bands are fairer in my opinion. Goody bag was just a banana and a plastic bottle of water; Starbucks gave us a free drink on sight of the medal which was nice but in general it feels a bit ungenerous. Nevertheless, great race and well worth running, and I can't speak highly enough of the volunteers (including the pacers who were fab).

As well as being an awesome course, I was blown away by the community and (standing and cycling) marshall support at the 2025 half marathon - it was amazing! I was also really impressed with the comms around the delayed start (love the follow-up video explaining what goes on behind the scenes - super interesting and so helpful to understand). The whole organising and supporting team stayed so positive and motivational despite what I imagine was a pretty stressful morning. Thanks so much for a great event :) I did it back in 2017 and again today, and both have been fab experiences.

Lovely hilly route. The start was delayed due to the M3 closure and we were all kept updated frequently, this was handled really well I thought. Lots of marshals and I was impressed by the local support throughout the route. Good set of drinks stations and great to have the eco focus on everything. Good to have all the pacers too. Definitely hoping to come back next year!

Thought the Marshalls and volunteers were absolutely brilliant especially considering the majority of the route being outside of central Winchester. Unfortunate with the delay, but the staff managed it well and communication was great. Some portaloos would be handy going round but not end of the world and also no trains to Winchester on race day - can Winchester council do anything about this? But will definitely be racing again and kudos to all the staff!!

After what could have been a challenging situation with the M3 closed for the 2 hours before the start, the team did everything that they could to keep the race going. Communication was as good as it could have been, through Facebook and Instagram, and the start was delayed by 75 minutes to let as many people take part as possible. Not sure if anything was re-routed, but after the delay the whole event ran smoothly. The hills are really not as challenging as they are made out to be, as long as you have done elements of hill training in the run-up. An excellent event and with this being my first year, I’ll absolutely be back again next time.