I was lucky enough to be on a day off the day this race went up for sale; and secured one of the elusive general sale entry spots.  By the time I went back into the site to try and register my husband, the site was freezing and crashing; and it transpired that the race had sold out. In 9 mins. 

Email communication leading up to the day was great - though I was a bit distressed by the frequent emails basically telling us there weren't going to be many loos!

I made a weekend of it, travelling to London on Saturday with a friend who was coming to spectate and we stayed over in Docklands, which made for easy access to the race itself.  

Race morning, we decided it would be a better plan to arrive from a slightly different direction to the stations advised by the race information. In doing so, I managed to pop into a Starbucks, less than 5 mins walk from Trafalgar Square and use the loo whilst my friend got a coffee. When we got into Trafalgar Square I literally could not believe the length of the queues for the loo, they were the largest I have ever seen at a race.  It became clear why, when i spotted the loos themselves - I thin there were only 4 or 5 in total! So, save yourself the stress and pop into a coffee shop a few mins from the race before you arrive. 

Can't comment on bag drop, my friend took my stuff. 

The start organisation is my main gripe about this race.  There was quite a big deal made about coloured "waves" and we had all been split according to predicted finish times.   However, there was no marshalling at all to this effect.  In fact, the waves were "first come first served."  I arrived at about the right time to corrral for my wave (3) and watched the first wave set off. I was surprised to see runners from all waves setting off, which must have been an issue on the narrow starting streets for the faster runners. Its also not a pleasant experience to start to close to the front if you aren't that speed as you can feel like you will be run over!

What was happeneing at the start is basically people arrived and were ushered straigh forwards and when the relevant number of people were in the start area they closed it and used that as a "wave."  I think they really need to learn from that for next year. 

Course - it was so cool to run on closed roads in Central London. There were so many spectators and the entertainment on course was fabulous. There were signs telling you where to look for all the sights, historical displays and lots of other stuff to distract your mind. The best bit for me was running down Cheapside with the Bow Bells ringing out. 

The aid stations were plentiful and well stocked. 

It does have a LOT of 90 and 180 turns though, so be aware of this. And from mile 4 to mile 9 is all contained within the square mile fo the City of London. You do feel slightly like you might meet yourself coming backwards. 

That said, the part of the course on the embankment and then finishing on Whitehall is amazing. The medal was fab; and was given out by significant Londoners - Chelsea pensioners, pearly kings and queens and the like. 

Overall, I had a fabulous day out. Hopefully the organisers will pick up on the niggles and make it even better next year.