This was my first Half Marathon and Dorney Lake was an ideal choice of venue! It is flat, traffic free, with pleasant nature all around, and on the day we also had the perfect winter weather - crisp, sunny with virtually no wind. The organisation of the event was good, with an easy registration process - even though a lot of the participants never heard of keeping to a queue... - and it started on time. There was a long wait for the last minute loo break, which meant I missed most of the briefing, but the course is incredibly easy to follow, and there were friendly and supporting marshals on very turn (a lot of them from the local Scouts, which I loved having been one myself - be prepared!). There were 2 water stations in the ~3 mile loop around the lake, so plenty of water in cups, which was a first for me - good practice for VLM! The loops may seem repetitive to some people, but I personally loved them - it helped make it through the tough last loop knowing how long there was to go! One bad marker, on that topic, was the KM signs on the loop - they were widely off the mark, showing about 4km less than the actual distance covered! I think they were from the preceding duathlon, covering a different distance - it really scared me at some point, thinking I wouldn't make the cut off! All in all a good race, with reasonable organisation in a fantastic venue - I would gladly recommend it.