I registered for the race the moment the early bird prices were released, as it had such good reviews the previous year, so the cost was reasonable. The organisers regularly updated via email and social media so we know what to expect. On the day the baggage drop was efficient, but as always with races, they could definitely have done with more toilets. I only managed to join my wave pen just as it was starting to move towards the start so felt I missed out on some of the pre-race atmosphere. There was also a fairly big queue for all of the portaloo points on the course. The course was pretty flat, with the only significant bumps being in the Altrincham area just before the halfway point. This is where my day went wrong - unfortunately there was a massive pothole on a sharp bend that I didn’t manage to avoid, being hemmed in by a pacer group at the time, and I hurt myself and had to ease off more and more as the race continued. The race is on fully closed roads and easy to navigate, although there were a few pinch-points where we had to slow down and runners bunched up a bit. There were plenty of marshals but they were a little quiet in my experience, and not all were engaged with the event (a lot were looking at their phones from about three-quarters of the race onwards. The aid stations were well-stocked and coped well with the numbers I thought. There were gels offered at quite a few and cut oranges as well. The support is pretty consistent all the way through the race, with the quietest section being in the countryside, understandably, but I like a bit of peaceful scenery. The wall of noise as you approach the finish line is fantastic and definitely rivals London. I would definitely do the race again some time, minus the falling in a hole part!