A decent sized half marathon (a field of c 10,000 I think) which means a great atmosphere from start to finish around a reasonably flat (its all relative though) closed road course. Plenty of pacers and of course you are never alone when running. All in all a great "big" event which ran smoothly bar one gripe (see below).

We used the parking at Forest football ground for £3. Plenty of room at 7:45am. Will use this again. Bag drop was v efficient. The toilet queues were long and confusing. So many ladies queued for the urinals in error. I gave up queuing. It was chaotic last year and just as chaotic this year. My main gripe in terms of this event. My wife almost missed the start gun having queued for 30 minutes.

Phased starts means that it isn't too crowded on the course once you've gone 500m or so.

I've always appreciated the support all along the course, especially up the hill through Woolaton Park. Good to see some of the RaceCheck crew cheering us on in their visors.

Sufficient water stops for me and the use of cartons rather than plastic bottles is a move in the right direction (I believe they can be recycled). It remains a challenge for these events where "bring your own cup" does not work.

Not a very scenic course (sorry Nottingham) but you know what you are going to get with a city road course.

And once I finally crossed the line then I appreciated the food and drink retail outlets.