Pre race there was plenty of emails with information about the race and my race number was sent out before the event so I did not have to collect this before the start.

There were warnings to get to the event early, I arrived at 7:30am and was parked up by 7:40

There was a small event village and hot drinks on sale which was very welcome as it was very cold.

The bag drop tent was where most people gathered until the warm-up team got to work and they did a great job.

The starting area could have been more clearly signed and easier to access as a soon as the pens started filling up it was not possible to see the times and there were no pacers to take advantage of.

The start was delayed by several minutes.

The first two miles are within the Knebworth Park grounds which are quite hilly then out onto closed country roads from Old Knebworth to Langley. This section was 2 miles one way then 180 degree turns to run back on the other side of the road. Outside Knebworth House the support by the marshals was great but not many locals braved the cold.

The drink stations were well stocked with sports bottles handed out by the marshals.

None of the route was particularly flat, mainly up hill then down hill, a challenging route but not a PB course.

The last miles take you down a lane parallel with Knebworth Park so you can expect what is coming next, at the bottom of the lane yon turn left, back into the grounds of Knebworth Park and face the final climb to the finish.

The medal was great but when I finished the finishers bags were empty and you walk along in a queue and filled the bag yourself, not a great way to finish.

I few small changes would make this event better.

1. Add large waste collector bags a few hundred meters after the drinks stations to avoid hundreds of bottles in the road.

2. Keep the route inside Knebworth Park sectioned off for runners only.

3. Have enough finishers’ bags ready at the end of the race.

Exiting the park after the event was straight forward and was soon at home with the family who also enjoyed my medal.