If you begin with an iconic venue and competitive race fees you should be half way to a winner. Unfortunately, F3 just don’t pull it off.

This event was postponed because of March’s terrible weather. Having been told that we could transfer to the April races, it took several messages and much chasing to get sorted, only being resolved a few days before race day. 

No matter, it was resolved after all. That’s the least of their issues. You cannot access the venue until 11:30 (safety because of the earlier duathlon - fair play) but that does not physically give them enough time to register the amount of runners meaning huge queues and a late start. Speaking of queues, ten toilets for the number present just isn’t sufficient! 

Cars have to park on the route meaning it gets narrow in places and frustrating for faster runners / wheelchair users who are lapping quicker than others. What’s more, it leads to people having to edge their way out, past runners, to get out of the venue. Or are 5k runners - the guy parked next to me had finished in 17mins - expected to wait until the half marathon has completed which could be up to three hours later? The marshalls couldn’t give a consistent or sensible answer so you just had to do your best to be fair and safe for those still running. 

I’ve done this event before and had similar issues then but will give anything a second go. The amount of other runners making the same comments starts to tell a story though. It’s a shame, these events could be really good but they come up short.

Love F3 events at Dorney Lake, and have been a regular at their competitions for the past 3 years. As the events have grown, so too has the slickness of the organisation. It's now a well-oiled machine and you're taken great care of. From parking up, you have mere hop out the car to the event start, with plenty of toilets nearby.

Well marshalled, closed roads, very easy to navigate and a fast course when it's not windy (warning - it often is!)

Come along to more than one and you'll meet the same faces and get involved in the sense of community that these friendly, unintimidating races are so good at creating. Perfect for beginners but also great for elite racers - there's always some healthy competition at the front end and it's a great time trial course.

With no cut-off times and marshalls designed to help rather than penalise (unless absolutely neccessary), you can be sure of a safe, fair race.

Chunky, bespoke medals at the finsh line make the hard work worthwhile and is a really nice memento. And for recovery? You've a choice of local retailers providing healthy and not-so healthy post-race treats at great prices. And after a race, it's the law that you can have whatever you fancy!