I was looking forward to this race and had high expectations! In some ways, it completely failed and in others it triumphed! Failures – I didn’t receive my Bib and Race details in the post. At all. The Strava group that I looked at had many others saying they hadn’t received theirs either, so I didn’t panic – until a few days before when I STILL hadn’t received it! I emailed the organisers and they sent out a new number (minus any race day info) I paid £10 to park at one of the Car Parks at Manchester United Football ground. I left with plenty of time, and the traffic at that time in the morning was almost non-existent but the queues in the mile leading up to the car parks were horrendous. We spent just as long driving the last mile as we did driving the previous 40 miles! For that price, you’d expect better marshalling and better signage etc. There were lots of people on the day that were late for the start, or missed it completely. The organisers knew that 14,000 runner (plus family, friends, spectators) were all showing up for 9am! The start Pens were very hard to navigate – I just happened to stumble upon the one that I needed but everything seemed very cramped and there were lots of spectators in with the runners which caused even more chaos! The Goody bag was a waste of a bag as it only contained the t-shirt (nice design) a foil blanket and a Soreen bar. Bit disappointing… Successes – Once we set off through the start line, the race itself was fabulous – ok the weather was atrocious with torrential rain for the most part, but that couldn’t be helped! Considering the weather was so bad, there was a great local turnout. Lots of people all around the course – clapping, high-fiving, playing music, whistling and handing out sweets! There were plenty of happy Marshalls out also! The water stations were plentiful and well signed and on 2 of the water stations they also handed out gels. There were lots of big bins after each water station, all with a huge board with a target so that you could aim your throw at it! The Finish was well organised, lots of marshalls handing out the medals and then some more handing out the Goody bag containing the t-shirt and a foil blanket (which was needed in the terrible weather) To summarise – I enjoyed this race but the shine was taken off by the poor organisation with the Race Bibs and the parking beforehand. Hopefully this will be improved as I would like to take part again next year.