A slog for the first 5.5 miles uphill but the downhill bit after that was great! Shame about the fog but a great atmosphere all around the course. One issue (and this is the same at all HMs) why is the last bin for water bottles so close to water stations? You can never use all the water in that distance so bottles end up being scattered. Would be worth having 1 last bin at, say, 1/4-1/2 a mile away maybe?

What a tremendous event! Can't be faulted at all. A challenging route for the first few miles (all up hill!), but of course you come back down the hill. The atmosphere was incredible, the people of Sheffield certainly know how to encourage and cheer people on. If you could arrange sun and clear blue skies next year, there were probably good views to be had in the Peak District, but everywhere was shrouded in mist :) Actually, the conditions were ideal for running. Can't wait to have another go next year, I'll be ready for that hill next time...

It was great to see that they learnt the lessons from last year with the toilets and bag drop. Soo many more toilets this year and 2 bag drops meant the pre race logistics was much better and calm. My issue this year was the shambles trying to cross the start line. Had the usual walk to cross the line, we then began to start running and then was bottle necked again which meant we had to start walking again. Bearing in mind you’ve already crossed the start which means the clock is ticking was really frustrating. I really enjoy this route but still not perfect- always room for improvement.

I’m going to reiterate Sammy W’s review. What a shambles the start was. I booked me and my wife on in December and we didn’t receive our numbers through the post and they weren’t there at the race office either. So we had to queue in the reallocation queue. We were there for 8:30 and received our numbers at 9:30. There were hundreds and hundreds of participants who were similar to us queuing because their numbers hadn’t arrived either, how can that many not get delivered?! We were lied to in the queue by someone stating they were delaying the start until I heard a member of staff say “They’re still queuing out the door, it’s your call” on her headset”. To which I then received a call from my brother saying the race had started as planned at 9:30 and we were still in the race office. All of these people queuing for a number and there was one member of staff on his laptop sorting it, one! I’d raised over £5k for charity, trained for 5 months, I had my whole family and friends here to enjoy the build up to the race, watch us set off and I spent the entire time in a queue, in the town hall, collecting a race number I should have had well in advance. My wife managed to start the race towards the back, by the time I’d left my bag and sorted my phone out etc there was no time for a warm up and I was starting pretty much dead last meaning I had thousands of people to get around to try and reach my target pace. Completely unacceptable. The actual race was amazing and all the celebrations after were too but the start came close to ruining the entire day. To the other hundred people behind me in that reallocation queue, who will have started the race even later, I hope you still managed to enjoy your race.

What made this event special was the support of the Sheffield crowds along the route. Despite the weather there was plenty of noise and good wishes even at the Norfolk Arms. Well organised and kept informed about the weather and changes as a result. I would agree that trying to find pacers at the start was difficult, i picked mine up half way around, but understandable given the short notice. The course itself is tough but rewarding with the views, crowds etc. Overall a great event and will be back!