I had heard good things about this event, best 10k in the UK and sells out almost instantly - I was intrigued! I was lucky to get a place through a runner that was unable to take part and was looking forward to the event. Upon arriving in Southport, we had a bit of a queue to get into the car park, a PCSO who was at the road junction didn't seem to do much when he could have been stopping and directing traffic, just stood and watched instead! Luckily, runners are a friendly bunch and used common sense so we could all get parked in time. The event run a free bus to the start which is only a few minutes away. Off the bus to find the toilets... Thank goodness for urinals as the queue was ridiculous, simply not enough toilets for the amount of runners. My friends and I decided that we would collect our race tshirt beforehand so we could run in them - but you are handed your goody bag at the same time...! I can't leave it in the car as its a bus ride away?! Luckily one of us had a baggage label so we had to squeeze 3 goody bags and one normal bag into one! Due to getting our goody bags, we decided to leave the tshirts until after the race, (more on that later). Off we went start, music was playing and the atmosphere was good. The race was started by Jo Pavey and off we went. Quite congested at the start but soon opened out. Along the promenade road with the sea, (a couple of miles away), to your right. The route was flat, very flat. We headed towards the town and turned back passing a lake, then back along the promenade to the finish. The local support was so so, it was a cold winters day on the coast after all. This event would be a fantastic race in the summer! Each mile there was either a band, drummers, singers or music playing. Over the finish line and you collected your medal and some water. If desired, you could queue for some fruit. Back to the baggage and then for the bus, we were straight on and back to the car. Now - let's all have a look at our tshirts - I've heard they are really good! And they are... Except that myself and my two friends were all given LADIES tshirts! Now were we going to go back on a bus, then queue, then get another bus? I had been up since 06:00 and wanted to drive the 80 miles home. All I will say is that my wife now has a new tshirt for the gym!

Voted the best 10k in the UK? I'm being honest and I'm not quite there on that one, the goody bag is amazing, and it should be for the entry fee, but it was a little chaotic in areas. A little tweaking here and there and this event can be right up there. 

PS: I would do this again!