The people made the event amazing. Support from staff, runners and supporters. Everyone was looking out for each other. Very different experience to the usual road races. Parking was a bit of a nightmare and there were a lot of large tents in the solo area that made pitching a tent challenging

The communication prior to the event was very good, lots of emails from a long time out, it’s a shame a lot of participants didn’t pay any attention, similarly, there was a helpful webinar before live and recorded, lots of participants, didn’t watch this either it would seem, but, there was a lot of information ahead of the event which was useful. My experience, started badly, this is something that could be significantly improved on and it is the arrival process. I fully appreciate that these runs do require volunteers and either there wasn’t enough, or enough weren’t recruited for arrivals on Friday. As a solo participant, I arrived on the Friday, late afternoon, the camping areas were filling up fast, there were marshals on hand to point you in the general direction of camping but as you reached the area, there was no one in sight to direct you and know signposting as to where you should go. I found myself driving towards the start/finish area on course and as the evening went on, I wasn’t the only one, it wasn’t until later in the evening, a sign went up to block the access to this area which you have to use to get towards the camping. The real frustration, which we had been told not to do in pre-race briefings was to leave cars in the camping area (unless sleeping in it) however, so many cars had been left with no Endure staff moving them on, likewise, huge tents had been erected where big groups had come to support a solo runner taking up way more space than needed, limiting availability for genuine solo unsupported runners. This is the only thing that I would say needs improvement, better signage, better marshalling and more policing of cars and group sizes so that solos and unsupported runners can access the areas better. The other issue was getting the car back out, in places you have to go on the course, as I pulled out to return to the car park, the Mini Mile kids came around the corner, fortunately I saw them and reversed out of the way and waited for all the runners to finish, it is a great add on to the event and brilliant to see so many youngsters running but again, no marshalling going on at the points that cars need to get on to the course to return to the car park as instructed. The whole event is a real running festival with lots going on, whilst the music is loud, it stops at 11:00pm and people then quieten down, possibly helped by a rain shower almost at the same time! Lots of good options although there were quite pricey but the Persian I had was very good. The day off the event is a real build up with commentary, countdown and runner interviews all around the event village and then as Noon comes around, we are off. The course is a nice mix of up, down and flat, it’s hilly but not too bad, very wet on our first day so it was slippy throughout but that was only in certain places even with the rain, the vast majority is good firm trail, track or tarmac. Lots of signs around course with sections given different names which keep you engaged with a few marshall outposts with great support. Just over half way is the aid station with fruit, water, electrolytes and more support. You ultimately get 25 hours to finish your final lap, Sunday sees the last laps achieved. The teams help build the atmosphere but they do seem to forget that there can be other people on course, I didn’t get trampled but did see a few teams running as a big group across the width of the course bowling over the top of the solo runners on their final meters which was a shame, I even heard one group waiting for their turn to finish moaning about the finish speed of a solo runner and how long they were taking which is a bit hard on that solo entrant who may have been running for over 24 hours at that point. All in all, it is a great event, definitely things that can be improved to help settle in and get a good first impression but having been once, I know what to expect which would help. My tips, from a solo perspective, arrive earlier on Friday, try and camp by the course, you then won’t need bag drop and can nip in and out of your tent as needed, have a T-shirt or calf tattoo saying “Solo”, I didn’t but those that did, got lots more encouragement from supporters and runners when on course, take your time and have fun, you have 24 hours, no need for any PBs! Have fun and smile for the camera, there are loads of photo opportunities!

What I would like to say is that I had the food from Nellys Delhi over the course of 2 days . The food has to be the best onsite . All food was fresh and tasty - not like the crap and over charged prices from the other vendors . His food was awesome . Please can you possibly ensure he is there at the other events . I was there as a spectator