Decided on doing this event as a weekend getaway with the family from London (they didn’t make it as daughter was ill) and I was reeled in with the £20 entry offer for those also doing the Manchester Marathon in April which I thought was a decent offer.

There is no problem at all regarding parking with loads on offer in the huge car park and collecting the bib number on the day was easy enough in the chequers restaurant.

Being a racetrack location in the middle of nowhere in the cold weather, the local support was always going to be next to nothing which it was. Fair play to the ones that were obviously there with runners but they were cheering everyone else on.

It was a 6 lap course in nice surroundings with water in cups at the end of each lap being dished out by the local scouts (I think).

Because of the size of the track overcrowding was never going to be an issue so it was very spacious for everyone which was good.

There were 2/3 hills per lap which by about the 4th I started to struggle with due to my weak Achilles/calf so this was never going to be a PB course for me.

There were hardly any Marshall’s around so props to the great job the pacers were doing keeping everyone happy and encouraged.

The T-shirt and medal were decent and the podium to have a photo opportunity on was a good addition. Because there were giveaways either side in the tunnel at the end I missed the T-shirt so had to go back for that and also never realised I could’ve got a print out of my finish time. This maybe could’ve been explained by a Marshall around this area if there was one. The other thing was that the finish seemed just over 200m extra over the half marathon distance which is a bit frustrating.

Still an overall good event which for anyone living local would work out good value for money especially if doubling up with Manchester marathon and getting the £20 deal