I ran this race in its first year and was incredibly disappointed in the route when I ran it in 2018. The start area is tricky to get to if you don’t have a car and need to rely on public transport. Which on a Sunday is even more difficult. The start areas were not well marked and felt chaotic. The race briefing said you would hit the only water station on the route well after the half way point. However, within the first 2 miles you were upon the water station and I was concerned that water would then not be available in the second half of the race when it was needed much more. Given that we were running through a residential area, i was shocked at how few locals/spectators were out. We then turned into the lap of Holme Pierrepont (also known as running hell). It is flat, completely uninspiring and even on a calm day everywhere else, the winds here are brutal at best. I was doing my best to keep with the pacer, but was finding it incredibly difficult to breathe. At the finish line, the pacer came up to me and apologised for not being able to encourage me on around Holme Pierrepont as she could tell i was struggling. She herself found it brutal and was struggling to breathe. I assured her it was okay, that her just being there was keeping me going. I thought it was realy sweet that she checked in with me at the end of the race. The marshalls on the course (especially at Holme Pierrepont) were very quiet, and offered no real encouragement to runners. It was all very disappointing. I understand they have changed the route for 2019. It is my local 10k and i dont think i would recommend it at all (especially if you are travelling). While i am curious about the new route, i don’t think it is worth the money at all.