My experience with the Staplehurst End-of-Year 10-Mile Race was nothing short of disappointing due to the mishandling of the medals promised to participants. While race day itself was enjoyable, what followed was an unprofessional and frustrating ordeal that significantly soured the event. From the outset, there were issues. The event organizers had failed to provide enough medals on the day, meaning several runners, including myself, left empty-handed despite having paid and completed the race. This was frustrating, but I assumed the situation would be rectified promptly. In the weeks that followed, I had to chase multiple times for my medal. Initially, there was little to no response, and when I finally got through, I was given various excuses, including that my medal had been posted but possibly stolen. This explanation seemed highly unlikely, especially when multiple participants reported similar issues. When my friend finally received their medal, they had to pay an additional postage charge because insufficient postage had been applied. I suspect this is why many people did not receive their medals at all. Despite repeated assurances that more medals were being ordered and sent out, I was left waiting for months with no resolution. Even when I eventually received an envelope, it was empty, proving once again the lack of organization from the race team. Rather than taking responsibility, the race director became defensive and dismissive, blaming external factors like the postal service instead of ensuring proper handling of the situation. My attempts to resolve this amicably were met with slow responses and excuses rather than concrete solutions. A race medal is more than just a piece of metal—it represents the effort and achievement of the runners who took part. The complete lack of accountability and professionalism from the organizers made what should have been a rewarding experience into a frustrating and time-consuming ordeal. If you’re considering signing up for a future event by this team, be warned: you may have to fight for what you were promised. I certainly won’t be returning!

This is an extremely low key event! Not organised by any of the usual companies, national or local. The finish line was at the end of a small cul-de-sac of a residential road which felt strange. The registration is at the local village hall where there is no parking, this is advertised before hand but you will need to park in the Station which is 10 minutes walk. Neither the start pr finish are where the village hall is, you have to walk a few minutes to get to either and the start and finish are in different locations. That all being said, if you go into the event knowing it’s a low key event then you will be fine as I found it an extremely enjoyable run. The course is on country lanes, the surface on the day was muddy and puddly in places due to weather and time of year. Most of the course is flat but there are hills and one very long hill around mile 6. Mile 6 to mile 7.5 is really hilly and add a lot of overall elevation to the course but most of the rest is flat, I found this course challenging to get the pacing correct because of this and therefore a lot of fun. The medal was sadly a little cheap looking and the water stations was a little lacking, there was also only the village hall toilets available which isn’t enough. Also (as far as I’m aware) no photographs taken on the route. One final thing to note is I don’t believe the course is officially licences so won’t count for runbritain rankings. I hope this gets changed As mentioned about, if you put aside what you may normally expect from a larger event and go into it knowing it’s a low key event, and good atmosphere of local runners you will really enjoy it. I did and will no doubt come back again in the future

Nice route with a good hill to run at 6 miles. Medals were very cheap and they ran out so they had to take name and address to send them on very poor if you can take 500 then you should have than many medals . The machine for giving you your finish time also broke " technical issues" all in all this a local race for me and I do enjoy it but for the money you pay a better medal is needed