I'm back to write a second review on this race. I just about completed the course in 2018 as my first half marathon with many regrets (see my 2018 review!) but I decided to come back and conquer it in 2019 after much more substantial training, particularly incline training. The course is as a remember it - almost the whole thing is on an incline and there are at least two brutal hills. I witnessed the hill between mile 4-5 wipe many people out (already walking) just like it did to me in 2018. Happily (for me) this year I managed to run the whole way this time because I knew to pace myself for those brutal hills that were coming up. The good things about the 2019 event is that it seemed a bit bigger than 2018, maybe because they introduced a 10K this year that far more people were running. I still found the half marathon a little lonely - I didn't run the whole thing on my own this time but it doesn't have the buzz of a big event with tons of runners around you. I have come to appreciate that the hills make it a challenging course, so its perfect if you're bored of flat routes and want to test yourself. I didn't like that they didn't send out race packs in the post this year. It was quite chaotic during registration because all the 10K and half marathon runners were in one small tent and there were no signs directing people into what queue they should be in. I really prefer to be more relaxed before a race rather than queuing and getting barged into. Other than that it was organised well.

The other thing I would like to see would be shuttle buses going to and from the town centre / train station for the start of the race, as well as at the end of the race, and a bag drop in the town centre as well as the atheltics track. This would encourage more people to get the train rather than drive. I got the train but its 30 min uphill walk from the town centre to the athletics track and this really isn't convenient. I am sure many people drive because they don't want to do the walk!