Hi James, Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. I am sorry to hear that parts of your experience on race day did not meet the standard you and we expect, particularly around the start area and your experience through the finish. We plan the event very carefully and always have runners’ experience, safety and enjoyment at the heart of our decisions. For this year’s event we did increase the number of toilets at the start, but we appreciate from feedback received that the layout and queuing system did not work as well as we had intended during the busiest period. We are already reviewing this, along with the pen system, as we did try some new approaches this year and we recognise that some elements need improving. With regards to the finish, this area was staffed with more volunteers than in previous years, but we understand that runners arriving during peak finish times may have experienced some queuing and congestion as they moved through the finish process. We are also reviewing the finish area layout and runner flow, including how medals, water and finisher items are distributed, to see where improvements can be made for next year. We are pleased that you still found positives in the event, and we hope you still did really enjoy the day. Thank you again for your feedback. It is genuinely helpful as we review the event in detail and look at where we can make improvements for future years.

Thanks so much! Really glad you enjoyed the route and the atmosphere out on course. Thanks again for coming along and hope to see you back again soon.

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the support out on course and the enthusiasm from the marshals on the day. Appreciate the comment about the water stations too. Definitely a tough race, so well done and thanks for coming along!

Thanks so much for the amazing review and for choosing to run with us again! Really glad you had another great experience and enjoyed the atmosphere on the day. It means a lot to hear you’d highly recommend the event, and we hope to see you back again soon!

Thanks so much! So glad you loved your first Chester Half Marathon experience. Your post-race photo looked brilliant too!

Thanks so much for the feedback! Really glad you enjoyed the atmosphere and support from the marshals on the day. Appreciate the comments about the toilets and start pens too — completely understand how that made the start a bit tricky, especially with needing to work around runners early on. We’ll take it on board for next year. Thanks again for coming along!

Thanks so much! Really glad you enjoyed the day and the atmosphere out on course. Hope to see you back again soon!

Thanks so much for this lovely review! Really glad you had such a good experience from start to finish and that all the pre-race communication helped you feel ready for the day. Those Chester inclines definitely catch people out every year! So pleased you enjoyed the photos too — your race photo looked brilliant! Hope to see you back again soon.

Thanks for the great feedback and glad you enjoyed the course and overall event! We appreciate the comments about the finish area as well and completely understand the congestion you mentioned. We’ll take this on board and review it for future events. Thanks again for coming along!

Great to hear you enjoyed the atmosphere and support around the course — the Chester crowds really do make the day special. We’ll be sure to pass your thanks on to the volunteers and pacers too. Best of luck with the marathon in October, we can’t wait to see you back!