One thing to mention before I dive into this review is that I won entry to this race in a competition.  However, I have marked Value for Money as high against how I would have scored if I'd paid for it.

Pros (in no particular order)

• Incredibly well marked race, given its distance and complexity. A series of arrows, tapes and flags mark your way and (surprisingly given my last experience of a trail race), only one of the markers on our route had been ripped down;
• Three distances to choose from, cunningly called short, medium and long;
• Fabulous atmosphere;
• Brilliant medal, Jimmy's Iced Coffee, bespoke beer at the end;
• Always a fabulous cake stall at a Maverick race;
• Proper toilets at the start!
• Beatiful, gorgeous scenery;
• No local support per se, but lots of walkers (and Duke of Edinburgh groups!) giving us some encouragement;
• Great hydration post with water and electrolytes, sweets, fruit, potatoes (should definitely have had some potatoes);
• Lots of easy car parking;
• Really easy number collection process;
• Free photographs (and they're brilliant).

Cons (in no particular order)

• I caveat that this is no fault of the organisers, but the first hydration post wasn't until about 16/17k, which on an incredibly hot day means that my running partner and I were both nearly out of fluid by the time we got there (to give some idea, I was carrying 2 litres when I set out). 
• It's incredibly hard.  Now I know that's all relative depending on experience and how fit you are, but I wouldn't want anyone to underestimate how tough this is.  It is the X Series after all.  But don't let that put you off either.  

I loved this race. My legs still hurt two days later but I'd definitely consider doing it again. I had an absolute blast!