What a fantastic event. This is the second time I’ve run the Cardiff Half Marathon and I really enjoyed the experience. The race village was great. There was a good buzz and some decent freebies available. The bag drop worked really well. After a short wait for bags to be checked at security, there were separate sections depending on your race number, rather than one long queue (dropping off and collecting) so it was really efficient. The race itself is a cracker. A big loop taking you from the city centre, down to Cardiff Bay, then up and around Roath Park Lake before returning to the city centre. There were good crowds and entertainment all the way round. Lots of people giving away sweets and kids with ‘power up’ placards. The water and energy gel stations were well manned so it was easy to grab what I needed. The course is flat with a couple of brief climbs towards the end, so a great opportunity to get a fast time. I managed to get a PB and knock 6 mins off last year’s time, so I was well chuffed! The finish line was well managed with plenty of volunteers giving out medals (a nice chunky 15th anniversary special) and goody bags, so no waiting around. The race t-shirt was disappointing. Much lower quality than last year. It was a strange, cheap feeling material with lots of loose threads and mine had a slight tear at the bottom. I’ve fed this back to the organisers. Dodgy t-shirts aside, I had a fantastic time and would highly recommend this event. After the race, the very sad news was announced that two chaps running in the event had died after crossing the finish line. I was so sorry to hear this and my thoughts are with their families.