This is the first time that I have taken part in the Rushcliffe 10k, I’ve never been fussed before, but I wanted to attend a few local races this year. Online registration was simple enough and information for the day was readily found. No issues here. Nor with the arrival of race number. Race day. Arrived early as warnings had been heeded about parking, and guess what, loads of runners ignored the advice causing a delayed start. Fluffy pre-race warm up completed, 1500+ runners herd into the start area. It was devoid of predicted finish times. I was around 20-30 people back in the throng of things, and once we got going it was impossible to get up to pace as there were a lot of slower runners in front if you. It’s not the end of the world but signifies the bad organisation. The course! Right get your popcorn ready kids... The course was redesigned to become a single lap over the previous double lap, possibly to attract more runners and possibly to avert the double visit to the parks lumpy ground. The course now doesn’t remain wholly within the park. It utilises the parks main car park, looped into the neighbouring industrial estate on narrow paths and with sections where it was a free-for-all around parked cars. Once back in the park we had the joy of 2-way traffic over a narrow bridge, I’d hate to have seen this once the larger pack of the race was moving through this section. Other course highlights included slippy paths (not the RDs fault but worth amention) numerous pavemnts to step up and down, a nice chicane with pavement, fence posts and bushes and to boot a set of metal triple fences, the sort that stop bikes accessing areas. Whoever designed the course needs to attend a course designers course! Apprently the lead bike abandoned the route, and despite winning, the race winner ran a ‘touch’ more than 10k. Cross the line and get handed a medal. Oh FFS put it around my bloody neck will you. Water was on hand and not much else, it’s only a 10k nothing else is required. Coat collected from the bag drop which was operated very smoothly, although some runners were helping themselves to bags. Got out of the car park easily. Although several others didn’t as roads were closed again to allow the 5k race to commence. Some had to wait 40 minutes in cold wet clothing. Every runner was treated to a free shower at the end. All courtesy of the incoming Storm Freya! Well! What a crate of cockwomble this proved to be. I’m just glad I didn’t hike halfway across the country for it. Will I do it again? I’ll check route maps next year, if it’s the same course I’ll take my £16 and take the kids for a slap-up meal at mcshitdonalds instead! Would I recommend it? Based on today, HELL NO. Take yer kids for some grub instead. Perfect Motion need to sort their priorities out. In 2 weeks its Notts20 on closed roads, one of the roads is highly dangerous to run along. Why am I mentioning this? Today’s race was advertised with closed roads, yet I saw vehicles driving along the route!!!!

This was my first time running the Rushcliffe 10k. It was fairly easy to register and we opted to run the 10k and 5k. About 10 minutes before the start of the race we were told there would be a 10 minute delay due to stuff on the course that the marahalls were trying to remove. We eventually started roughy 20-30 minutes late. The start was incredibly chaotic, they announced there was rougly 400 additional finishers this year compared to last, and it showed.... badly. There was no organisation for predicted finishing times, and once the raced started the best way i van describe it was a free for all. Ive never been so bashed about at a race before and I’m sure bruises will be appearing. There were elbows flying and a lot of unnecessary shoving as people got started. Which continued on until the runners thinned out for 2km. While the race mostly took place in the country park, the sections outside had narrow paths (sidewalks) some of which were made even more narrow with cars being parked on the path. There were also a number of closely staggered barriers we had to run through which were frustrating. You had to really slow down to navigate them safely, and got crowded at times with the number of runners on the course. Overall, would i recommend the race? Sure, it’s good value for money, and it’s a decent local race. I do think they were unprepared for the numbers this year, and i think it had an impact on runner safety. There is a 10k mapped route in the park, and i dont know why that wasn’t used, but i am sure there are reasons. A real plus of the race was the amazing marahals. They were so supportive and cheery, especially considering the conditions.

This was a really well organised and fun 10km race with a huge variety of runners slow and fast, young and old, club and solo. A really friendly atmosphere with runners all supporting and encouraging each other on. There was lots of info online, it was easy to register, and there were lots of emails in the run upto the day with very clear instructions. On the day, parking was easy and free. Marshalls directed the traffic and it was a short 10 min walk to the event village and start line. There were lots of toilets available and refreshments. The pre race warm up was the best i've been too. The start was well managed and the route clearly marked and well marshalled with lots of local support in parts (despite the rain). The route was on and off road, lots of paths and lots of ups and downs, so a great variety to keep it interesting. At the finish there was a lovely big medal and a bottle of water. The announcer welcomed everyone back by name which was a really nice touch. The only two points for improvement are ( 1) there were a couple of bottlenecks on the course which meant we had to stop and queue - not great if you are looking for a pb (mainly in areas we were told to be single file where the route double backed on itself and (2) there was a very, very, long wait to get out of the car park due to the 5k route (which started later) crossing the car park exit and marshalls having to hold back cars from leaving. This meant sitting in my car wet and cold for 40 mins from 11.40 to 12.20 which spoilt what was otherwise an excellent race. Maybe the start times or route directions could be tweaked for next year? I would recommend this race and would definitely join in next year.