This is such a great marathon to do. The organisation was outstanding and surpassed all the "majors" that I've done - everything from the pre race infromation to the last minute course change due to recent rainfall was extremely professional. Emails were sent with all the relevent information and there were also Facebook Live sessions with more information.
The atmosphere at the start and finish areas was great and the crowd support in the local villages and Chester town centre were great.
The race started and finished close to the Chester racecourse and the course ran through quiet country lanes in Cheshire and 11 km in Wales. It was a cool day so I only needed to stop for water around 35km but the 9 refreshment stations were well stocked with water, lucozade and gels.
The race village was in the Chester racecourse where the race helpdesk and bag drop were. Bag drop off was straight forward but collection took a bit long - I waited in a queue for about 20 minutes to collect my bag. The kids working at bag drop were doing their best to get bags out quickly. I would never hold this against the race organisers - shit happens, just deal with it!
All finishers received a medal, long sleeved technical running top and a goody bag - this was one of the best goody bags I've ever received in a race.
I wouldn't definitely recommend Chester marathon to anyone looking for an Autumn marathon.