First time for me for this event, would def do it again. Parking easy along the sea front, very flat as mostly along the sea front (small section on the road back from the sea) great atmosphere as lots of spectators, rasiing money for a top cause and the bigest medal I have received from any other race!

This year I competed in the 10k having previously competed in the half distance. It’s a very well organised event for a fantastic cause. Not the cheapest but remember profits don’t all go to the race organisers. The 10k consists of 2 laps of the 5k route, which heads west along the promenade from the start outside the fabulous De La Warr Pavilion. It’s essentially an out and back with a little detour. Definitely a good race for Pb hunters. It always has a great medal, and marshals and supporters are great. Some nice post race fuelling options for the runners as well.

They have several kids races as well. My 4 year old son took part in his first race, the 500m fun run (with me along side) which was free. He got a medal and some goodies for his efforts and he loved it.

All about the medal with this race. 

The event itself is alright, route is a bit meh and is into a strong headwind along the front, but the cause is what this run is all about. Plus the medals have been fantastic the past couple of years and makes you want to keep on supporting the event due to the "bling" and the cause! 

I signed up fairly late for this race, as I’d never run a 10k before and needed a little persuading! 

Logistics were great, easy free parking, race HQ in the De La Warr, and a great atmosphere as the 5k was underway as we arrived at the start. 

A brief briefing and a minute’s silence and we were off. It’s a mostly flat course with a tiny incline about 3km into each lap. Which then comes back down in a gentle slope towards the finish line. 

Water station was at the start line, so you reach it at 5km. Plastic bottles which seemed a little much for a 10k, lots were discarded still pretty full. Paper cups next year? 

I finished in a little over an hour, and here is where only issue with this race arises. The children’s races were set off around this time, with them all finishing on the same finish funnel. This meant I was dodging parents who weren’t paying attention in the final few metres when I was tired and trying to sprint finish. It also made the finish line very busy and I was missed on the finish line photos :( Bearing in mind that lots of average runners finish a 10k in around an hour, would the organisers consider changing the timing of the children’s races for next year?

The medal for this race was gorgeous, easily the loveliest medal I’ve earned. And the snack tables were piled high at the finish! 

Overall a great race, would run again. 

I was asked to pace this local event and was very pleased to be able to do so!

This was the 10th anniversary of the race, not only the Half distance but also a 10km and kids races. 

The race itself is a 3 lap affair as follows: 2 x 8km and 1 x 5km, now I am not a huge fan of lapped courses and this is exactly what you would expect from a seafront/promenade based running event. 

The start of the race is in the imposing shadow of the De La Warr pavilion, a fantastic art-deco 1930s building which sits right on the beachfront, this is great because if the weather is a bit grim there is some excellent shelter inside and underneath the balconies. Thankfully, the day was fairly calm ( at the start at least!) 

The race started on time at 12.30, after a reading recording by Kevin Costner?! I wasn't 100% sure what this was and couldn't really hear it....

This was followed by the national anthem sung by a previous X factor winner just before 'The Last Post' and 2 minute silence. 

The race begins by heading in a westerly direction up the seafront towards Cooden beach, a slight climb off the promenade and onto a section of road (fully coned off) and a drop on to the lower promenade roughly 2.5km to the turnpoint, back along the full stretch of the lower and upper promenade to the the second eastern turnpoint at 6.5km, this returns you to the start area to complete the first 8km lap. 

Repeat and repeat for a final 5km lap to the finish! 

Support was good around the start area, with a well-stocked water (bottle) station and discarded bottles were quickly collected by the marshalls. A few jelly babies would have nice at the water stations  (but I do have a sweet tooth!) 

There was 'Yazzo' milk at the finish, which was very welcome, followed by a great medal for your achievements and a decent tent with cakes and biscuits etc. 

I did enjoy the event, especially meeting up with some of the #visorclub family! This definitely made it worth while!

Weather is as you would expect, pretty cold in the sun and a good smattering of raina, but it is November! 

Well done to all that completed the event, I would recommend this as a good half marathon for a first one, the marshall support and safety element is clearly there and its not overly crowded.

Well done to all the finishers! 

This is a lovely little half marathon along the seafront of Bexhill-on-Sea. 

I left it late to register as I had a newborn, but wanting to have one last half in the year and it’s proximity to my home (Hastings),I went about persuading/begging my wife for the ok to run it. 

Registering online was easy, and email updates were frequent and helpful. Parking on the day was easy, with plenty of free street parking a pebbles throw from the start, or if you’re lazy you can pay to park right outside!

I picked up my number, and bumped into some fellow lovely visorclub members, then again outside met up with a few more and had the obligatory awesome selfie! There was a pretty good turnout,even with the kids,5k & 10k races already being done. Some words of remembrance and a silence, then we were off.

Now, I’m not a fan of laps. I knew the route was 2 & a half laps so really wasn’t expecting much. I decided to run with a pacer to try to crack 1:50. I’m really glad I did. Our pacer was Greg, who did a great job of motivating everyone, keeping us informed and generally making it fun. Without running with a pacer I think I would have enjoyed it far less, so a big thank you to all the pacers who gave their time to help others.

The water station was outside the start,so you passed it twice a lap, and they readily handed out bottles of water.(so much better than cups!) The course is flat apart from a small incline each lap and the marshalling was great.

Having finished (not quite managing my target), I was greeted with a milkshake, an epic medal and a massive table full of treats!

I would do it again, and I would definitely recommend running with a pacer for this one.

I was asked to act as a pacer for the Poppy Half Marathon, pacing 2hr10m and was delighted to be able to accept. The thought of being able to run a half marathon in a lovely seaside location, help others to reach new goals and to be able to remember and honour our fallen servicemen and women was so appealing to me.This was the 10th anniversary running of the race.

And what a great day it was, despite a little bit of drizzly rain and a slight sea breeze, the whole event was superb, very well organised and set up and one to recommend for future years.

Getting to the location was easy enough, from my location in Swindon it took about 3 hours to drive, there was parking available close to the start in a pay and display car park, but also plenty of free parking roadside if you didn't mind a short walk to the start.

Based on the sea front at the Grade 1 listed Art Deco style De La Warr Pavilion, the event comprised of not only the headline half marathon, but also a 5km, 10km and junior races (500m and 1km) beforehand. All of these set off right on schedule and were well supported and marshalled.

The Half Marathon was due to set off at 12.30pm, approx 500 entrants lined up ready to go on time, but before the off there was a moment to reflect as runners were asked to stand for a few moments in silence to hear the National Anthem sung and the last post to be played and to pay tribute to our heroes.

Bang on 12.30 the race started, a flat course, apart from a short 100m incline, which was made up of an initial 5km section before 2 loops of 8km out and back along the prominade, all on paths with just a short section on a quiet road. 

The route was well marshalled and signed, with mile markers throughout and there was a well stocked and supervised water station at the same point on the course, which was passed on each loop. Bottled water was being handed out and I was pleased to see that all discarded bottles were quickly being picked up to stop any finding their way on to the beautiful shingle beach and then swept out to sea.

First aid was available on the route and at the start/finish area, thankfully I did not see anybody require help from them but it was nice to know that they were there if needed.

There was not a lot of local support save from at the Pavilion, some interested onlookers at the regular sea front cafes gave encouragement each time we ran past, but other than a bemused looking postman at one point there were not many others about.

On completion of the race runners were able to get an instant result on the finish time, through the chip timimg on their race bib, and were handed a bottle of Yazoo flavoured milk as soon as you crossed the line. A really top quality medal with a lovely tribute message inscribed upon it was presented to you and then your could immediatly refuel with a well stocked tent with Jaffa Cakes, Haribo's Jelly Babies, bicuits and drinks galore, oh and more Yazoo if required!

Race photos were being taken on the day and were quickly available to purcahse at a very resonable price, with a percentage of the cost being donated to the race charity.

I thouroughly enjoyed the whole event, and rounded off a great day with a nice helping of chips whilst watching the breakers crash in on the beach. I would recommend this race to anybody looking for a smaller event to run in to avoid the crowds, but that is still on a par with bigger events on the organisational side of things.