This was the second time I have taken part in this race and I enjoyed my first time in 2016 and whilst for the most part I enjoyed this year it was let down by a couple of things. 

The race is not cheap especially if you are adding the 5k on the Saturday but the medals are great and if you like bling then there are a few available by either running the whole weekend or returning year on year.

So, the good - The registration process is very easy and race packet collection is from the expo. I only live 20 minutes from Liverpool so very easy to get over and collect. You can have it posted for a fee. The expo was great, lots of merchandise and a good mix of retailers/products to browse.

As mentioned above the medals are great and the free beer at the finish is most welcome, on course the aid stations are evenly spread and well stocked with water, lucozade and gels. The band's on course are great and give you a boost when running past, especially in the heat of yesterday's run. 

I really enjoy the route but this year it felt a lot more crowded and some parts just felt too narrow for the amount of runners, there were also a lot of kerbs, bollards, traffic islands etc to negotiate. 

Right, the bad - The corral system was utterly pointless. I'm only an average speed runner (corral 9 - 2 hour pace) but like to settle into pace asap, which should have happened, but there were no martials managing the corrals so the first three miles were spent overtaking/dodging & weaving much slower runners. Some were walking before the mile 1 marker.

The other negative was the finish exit. Whilst it was nicely spread out for the first part where you collected your medal, water, crisps, banana, Haribo, juice (please provide a paper bag next year) it was fine but then you had to get through to the baggage area via a mass of spectators and a real bottleneck. The logistics of the finish area/spectator routes just need ironing out a bit more.

Overall I did enjoy the race and love the medals, I'm sure I will be back.  A couple of issues but with a few tweaks this event could be perfect.