This is a good route with varied scenery. The general levels of support are a credit to the people on the route and greatly appreciated as we ran around. I like the steep, but short hill at around mile 17 as it adds a little challenge. Generally the route is not hilly.

I would consider this marathon again, but there are a few minor issues.

water stations offered water and gels, but not salty electrolyte drinks you might need. I did not notice any food at these stations, but may have missed it. One or two marshals did not appreciate we need clear directions early. The results were very slow being released and the big timer was off when i finished. The mile markers were wildly out, confirmed by every runner i spoke to.

the 'expo' was lack lustre and the water was in cups at the end. The goody bag was very, very poor - had better at 5k races. 

My feeling is this race is very new and struggling a little to gain proper status. The organisers need to decide if they really want to continue and then put some heart and soul into it.

the location, people, anouncer and many other aspects were great. I like the medal and the vest. I also managed to finish.

well done, but please work to sort out these gremlins and you'll have a fantastic event on your hands.

After a couple of 10K’s earlier in the summer, I turned my attention back to half marathons, largely to assist with the marathon training I embarked upon, some 10 weeks ago. After vowing never to run 26 miles again after last summer’s Gloucester Marathon, the memories of the injury, physical exhaustion and uncomfortably high temperatures quickly faded, and before I knew it, I was signed up to run the Chester Marathon in October. Watch this space…

To date, training has not gone to plan, with the number of injuries and niggles I’m now carrying almost into double figures! My left hamstring (and the sciatica in both the left and right side of my body) has proved to be particularly troublesome and something I am struggling to shift. Purchasing a good quality foam roller in the past couple of weeks appears to be helping, so fingers crossed that I’m on the road to recovery.

As mentioned, I ran the full marathon in its debut year in 2016, so this year, whilst tempted to put last years ghosts to rest, the half was the more sensible option as it would allow me to run a local race and double-up as a decent test within the mid-point of my training programme. It was the first time that the organizers had included a half into the schedule, and given that the course is as flat as you could ever wish for (touted as the flattest half in the UK on their website),  swerving the treacherous hill at 17.5 miles in the marathon seemed like the perfect strategy.

The race Expo opened on the Saturday morning prior to the race, which required runners to pick up their race vest and chipped race numbers from a number of small covered stands situated on the edge of the canal, a stones-throw away from the Quays, where the start was situated.

A few initial gripes before we get into the race; 1. The cost - £36 PLUS a processing fee of £3.34 (Seriously! For what? They didn’t even send the race packs out!). 2. A severe lack of toilet cubicles – the queues were horrendous. I ended up strolling past the queue and releaving myself behind the cubicle block (no shame!) for fear of missing the start a block or two or men’s urinals would have helped ease the congestion massively. 3. The starting area – No pens indicating predicted finish times, a lack of visible pace-makers and no, wait for it, starting line! You would expect a fairly visible starting gate, but there was nothing. It was only by chance that (as we began moving forward with the other runners) I happened to look down to see a mat which I assumed was the start line, which prompted me to start my watch!  

Despite the above, the atmosphere pre-race was brilliant. I bumped into loads of familiar faces and names from the Twitter running fraternity (UK RunChat, RaceCheck, Runr) who had travelled from various parts of the UK to participate. I was so relaxed chatting with them about tactics and what they were up to in their running worlds, that I almost forgot why I was there! A great bunch of people!

The start time for both races was 8am, which I believe was scheduled slightly earlier than the standard 9am gun to accommodate a potentially warm day (it was 23 degrees out on the course last August) and to enable the roads to be re-opened as early as possible. As it happened, the weather was as good as could have been expected for an August race. It was around 16 degrees by 9am, but with, frustratingly, a slightly annoying headwind on the second half of the course.

After a congested start through the Quays, we made our way out onto Southgate Street and then through the city, eventually heading towards Churchdown and Down Hatherley.

I was running with a friend who had travelled across from Kent for the event and one of her friends who is fairly quick over a half and who had kindly agreed to pace us through the race with the aim of getting us both sub-1.44 finish times. A long shot for me, given my string of (excuses!) injuries, but I was prepared to give it a go!

The first couple of miles were paced perfectly (7.41 – a little quick and 7.50), and by mile 4 (along the Cheltenham Road) we had put in another couple of 7.50-somethings, so all was looking good. I was feeling fairly comfortable (aside from all the aches and pains in my legs), but my friend was starting to struggle a little at around 5 miles. This wasn’t surprising, given that she had cycled over 100 miles and run a marathon in the past week!

Our ‘personal’ pacemaker slowed down to support her and told me to carry on as we were. Mile 5 roughly marked the split on the course (another frustration was that there were no more mile markers after mile 4!) where us half runners turned left to travel cross country (we would eventually join the marathon route again at mile 20) with the marathon runners continuing north towards Cheltenham.

As I headed off into the rural Gloucester without my support team, it dawned on me that I hadn’t run a half on the road without an official pacemaker for a couple of years (the guy that was meant to be pacing the 1.45 slot pulled out due to injury the day before). I certainly don’t endorse relying on them for all races, but I must admit that I felt lost not sitting on someone’s shoulder, who is effectively doing the lion’s share of the leg work. It’s a lot harder running on your own and more tricky to keep to your intended pace. I ran through 5 and 6 at 7.55 and 8.00 respectively, but was having to now work harder than I’d have liked in what was still the early stages of the race. After taking an energy gel at 6.5 miles, I felt fairly strong again. Mile 7 was my strongest for a while (7.50) so I was encouraged to push on and maintain the momentum I was steadily building.

We briefly ran onto Tewkesbury Road heading back south again before a sharp right onto a narrow lane which headed past some beautiful old buildings and into some really rural countryside. The terrain started to get a little lumpier and the surface underfoot more uneven, before we hit a fairly strong head-wind that was to last for a couple of miles. After running through an actual farm (!) (this was the part of the course that following a private road), I knew that once I got to 10 miles I’d be a ‘Parkrun’ away from the home, so continued to push on through what was a fairly remote part of the course with very few spectators and only the odd marshal here and there.

By 9 miles I knew I was off PB pace by about 15 seconds and, annoyingly, didn’t have the energy to pull that back, so decided to aim for at a sub-1.45, which I was still on track for at 10 miles. Then, without warning, the speed seemed to drain out of my legs and I dropped down to 8.15/20 pace for a mile or so. It was really strange, since I wasn’t struggling or labouring in my efforts, I just wasn’t running as quickly as I wanted to!

At around 11.5 miles, after running through Sandhurst and back onto the main road that circled Gloucester, we entered a small estate before running alongside the River Severn, going up and over a pedestrian bridge that crossed the main road (which was very hard to navigate due to the need to run in a steep circular motion (back on yourself effectively) before dropping back down to the river towpath. Before the crossing, there was a particularly challenging 45 degree ramp to run down (more suitable for a mountain bike!) and with these twists and turns and unevenness of the latter part of the course, my time for mile 12 was 8.30, so I’d effectively lost any chance of running a decent time. At that point, I decided to actually enjoy the last mile along the river in the warm sunshine!

After another ridiculous u-turn maneuver needed to cross the final small bridge, and with a few hundred yards to go, I put my foot down and looked for a strong finish, overtaking a few people along the way (it’s always a great feeling to reel people in so close to the finish!, and as I reached the Quays and home straight, I actually slowed down to wave and clap the supporters congregated along the finishing straight. People often neglect to realize how important these people are to an event, so as I wasn’t going to hit a PB, I thought I’d show them my appreciation, which got a massive response of acknowledgement back, which made the hairs stand up on my neck. What a great crowd!

I came in at 1.46.02, so if hadn’t have slowed down (show-boated!) at the end, I’d have run a credible 1.45 something. But, given my injuries, a warm day and a tricky last couple of miles, I was more than pleased with my efforts!

We were actually presented with a vest at the Expo before the race, and a decent medal at the finish line. Since the race, I have read a great many negative comments on various social media sites about the confusing start, a lack of water out on the course (which probably impacted on the marathon, rather than half runners), a lack of toilets at the start, marshals sending runners the wrong way out on the course and generally poor organisation.

The start annoyed me along with the cost of the event, which was not value for money, but if you take that away, the actual route was great and the supporters and marshals fantastic. It is only the second year this event has been held, so if the organizers can learn from these mistakes and take on-board the negative aspects of the event, it has the potential to be a great annual running festival for the city of Gloucester.

For me, I was happy with my run and will now get my head down and crack on with my marathon training.  

We registered for the half marathon option as a training run, registration was simple enough. You had to collect race number/s the day before at the expo or on race day which we did after getting there for 6.30am. Race number collection was ok and race vest given at the same time “before the race” which was strange?, Its worth noting the sizing was very small so you had to go up a size which for us being there so early was ok but for others arriving later maybe no so? Parking was good at £2.00 for the whole day especially being only a 3 min walk to start/finish area – there were 4 listed on their site within a 5 min walk. Loved the 8am early start for both the half and marathon. Didn’t see adequate signage for start line or expected finish time zones and I looked for pacers but never saw any? Lack of toilets at start/finish area and only 1 at each aid station as we discovered during the race. Water was very limited at all the aid stations we came across and at one they were asking a neighbour to refill large water bottles so I guess they had run out? I run with my own so for me I was ok but it’s not acceptable and please stop supplying it in cups it just does not work!!! Bottles are so much easier to manage and not much more in cost considering the lack of contents given in the goody bag and the relatively high cost entrance fee £39.00 for a half. Support on the course was good and marshals extremely supportive and I liked the half route which started with the marathon and branched off just after mile 4. I saw the first 4 mile markers and then none after that? The route was scenic heading out into the countryside and largely flat, a few undulations with no hills to talk of in the half. I saw lots of people wearing headphones which on some open roads is a no go to me and was in the race brief as forbidden but not policed obviously?!! There was a rather dangerous wooden sheet that you had to run down in the last mile that had it have been raining would have been neigh on impossible to achieve, although there was a handrail to grab if you wanted too. The finish line had a timer clock that unfortunately wasn’t working so not sure quite why it was there? We also had the half distance as long 13.23?

The vest was top quality as was the medal sadly the goody bag was lacking and quite pointless (cereal bar, electrolyte tablets and leaflets only) and no bottles of water either or banana as you finished? Just cups of water again and high 5 in cups!!

So to sum it up would I do it again? Yes I definitely would as I enjoyed the route, the medal, love the vest concept rather than a T-shirt and these do look great on even if they are a size smaller than usual so bear this in mind when selecting your size.

Improvements with aid stations essential especially as it’s an August race as we expect it to be warm/humid and more toilets at the start/finish area and around the route are required.

It’s based in the Quays area which is beautiful with plenty of eateries for afterwards and designer retail shops offering very good bargains after the race if you want with Nike & Asics shops.

I will be back for sure in 2018 and would love to see the few issues that most people are addressing resolved. 

Route: Reletively flat marathon as advertised, apart from a WALL at mile 17. Very scenic in parts, running alone for the majority especially the final 300m with no sign of human life when you need a bit of cheering on in the last mile. Mile markers missing or inaccurate in places. Enjoyed the relaxed feeling compared to busier events. Very supportive crowds in more built up areas.

Organisation: No clear start or signs for where to start relative to expected finish times. Cheerful marshalls but large distances without marshals or water stations. The timings were revised several times, so not sure they're accurate. Also everyone in wrong age category. What happens to those needing times to qualify for other events??

Value: Liked the medal and the proper vest rather than t-shirt, slightly odd sizes but snazzy never-the-less! 

Overall: Would do again if I lived on the doorstep just for flat pb potential but not worth travelling to if you live further away. 

The Event is only in its second year , so there are still some teething problems.

-The course is predominantly flat apart from a short steep Hill at Mile 17.

-Local support was great the only real negative is the last mile is off road hence no support , when you need that final push its not there apart from your fellow runners .

-The Finish is right next to the canal , a great spot and hearing the support as you get to the end of the off road mile is a real motivator.

-Personally on the water side i found there was more than enough , plastic bottles would be a vast improvement though.I heard though that some of the tail runners were complaining about lack of water.

-Ive lived in gloucester all my life and still got slightly confused at where the actual start was (could of maybe been abit clearer ).

-The EXPO on the staurday was really poor.and So was the goodybag.

-But would i run it again , Yes , Do i think the small problems can be sorted i hope so .

Gloucester City Half was my eight half marathon in my #1year12halfschallenge - to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. 
We arrived in Gloucester in plenty of time, just as well as I had to go on a toilet hunt.... 
It was great to meet up with other Lydney parkrunners and Forest of Dean Athletic Club members. The race started in the Docks, it was not completely clear where the start was but I crossed it, and exited the docks onto Southgate Street, a quick trip around Commercial Street, before heading over The Cross into Northgate Street.
It was amazing to see how many people were out lining the streets all around the course, cheering us on.
After leaving the City Centre, we took a trip down Kingsholm past the Rugby ground, and onto Escourt Road, again the streets were lined with supporters.
After ducking under the A40 at Elmbridge we appeared in Churchdown here again the streets were filled with so many supporters, here I lost my running partner for the past few miles Victoria, not sure where you went?
The route then took a split with a decision to make, do I go straight on and go for a full marathon, or turn left and stick to the Half. I turned left and enjoyed the trip along Down Hatherley Lane, looking out across the fields, from here which was about half way I could start to see glimpses of Robinswood HIll.
A short run down the A38 past all the stopped traffic, and up the driveway of Nature in Art, the fields and scenery around here was loverly, then a quick dash through a rather smelly farmyard, before coming out in Sandhurst.
Here I was caught up by a hoard of runners, which I guessed were with the 2 hour pacer, my goal was to try and stay in front of them, as we wound our way through Sandhurst and out onto St Oswalds Rd - here I thought my race was over, as I tripped on something not sure what, and was aiming for the pavement, luckily I managed to right myself before hitting the ground.
The final part of the route took us around the back of the new houses at St Oswalds, and down a wooden ramp onto the flood plains, with the river to the right, under the railway arches, along by the old boating lake, before taking a steep sharp climb up over the footbridge over the River Severn, it was then an undulating trek along the outskirts of Alney Island, before popping out onto Severn Road.
As I turned the corner onto Llanthony Road, the finish whilst not in sight, could be heard, the crowds were lining the street, and around the corner along the canal, were hundreds of people cheering me over the finish line, it was amazing to hear my name being called out as I finished in 1hr 59mins.
A great course, scenic, fantastic supporters, marshals were amazing - thank you for all your support - the finish was one of the best I have experienced, would I do it again - not sure it was not the best organised, water stations were badly managed, the start was not clear, only saw a few mile markers, and the goodie bag was non existent - but it is a nice route, very scenic, quite flat, and also local to home.

Thank you again for all your support through my #1year2halfs challenge I can't believe that I've only four more runs to go. The next one is the Severn Bridge Half on 27th August - See you there.

If you would like to sponsor me then the best way is to go via www.justgiving.com/1year12halfs. All money raised is going direct to the British Heart Foundation,

I enjoyed the actual course and the marshals were great, not much else good about it. Very poor that there was no water at some of the stations, this is a very basic thing to get right. Still waiting for the full results, it's now 12pm the next day. This does have the potential to be a very good event, but things need ironing out. At the moment, it certainly isn't worth the £55 I paid.  

I really enjoyed the route, and a great atmosphere around the course and at the finish! However the start wasn't very well organised. Marathon and Half Marathon in together, no signs and couldn't see where the pacers were. 

Water stations were a bit chaotic, I understand this is hard to man.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience! I may be back next year to tackle the marathon!