For a first event this wasn’t bad but a few hiccups at the start. Queue for the bag drop + a 30min queue to the toilets had us running to the start and despite us being spread out into waves there didn’t seem to be any pens so everyone we’re jumbled up approaching the start. The start itself was busy and quite slow in places but this eventually opened up. Also couldn’t spot any pacers in the start pens, only saw them a while in when we were on Waterloo Bridge. 

The route is good but quite winding and a lot of turns to navigate, but the signs marking the landmarks were a nice touch, I’ve run many races through central London but never seem to look up and actually enjoy the surroundings. The back and forth got a bit disorienting after a while though and the marshals weren’t really controlling the crowd very well, had a few near misses with the public crossing the route, but I guess that’s inevitable over such a long route.

The water stations and two lucozade station were well managed, great to get the lucozade in bottles rather than ending up wearing half of it when in cups (although why there aren’t smaller bottles available for races is still a mystery - such a waste). 

The support on the route was good, plenty of cheer stations and entertainment but a few quiet spots around the City. 

The finish was good, useful goodies at the end (water, lucozade, a snack bar) and no faff with tshirts etc and the medal was nice and a bit different. The instant text with the finish time was also good. 

Overall it was a great day. The biggest downer with this event was the registration itself back in 2017, the site crashed/ran out within minutes of spaces opening and caused a lot of frustration. Hopefully they’ll sort that out as well as the start for next year and this could be a great event.