As my first marathon, Brighton 2017 will always hold a special place in my heart. The crowd support, especially from 22 miles onwards, was immense and most of the route gives beautiful sea views.

The course is challenging: technical with some substantial inclines for the first 12 miles or so, flatter but with lots of 'out and back' sections which seem to go on forever in the second half. The Shoreham section (18-22 miles) is hard going, basically through a massive industrial estate and lacking any atmosphere. 

As others have noted though, the whole event was let down by some completely avoidable issues. Whilst nothing can be done about the weather, the forecast was consistent for a couple of weeks in advance. Plenty of time to make contingency arrangements and ensure that enough water was available for everyone. There was plenty when I came through, albeit the cups ranged from full to barely a splash in the bottom - on that note, cups? I had expected bottles from such an expensive and high profile race - even for those who had the luxury of available water it was impossible to get enough on board. Those further back had nothing which is unforgivable and verges on negligent! 

Pack collection worked well for me (in and out in a few minutes) although I've heard horror stories about massive queues for many. Again, surprised that packs were not posted and, if I'm cynical, it felt like an opportunity to get people in and spending cash more than anything else. 

Lastly, crowd control was basically non existent: the last few miles became quite bottle necked as the crowd closed in and crossed the route wherever they liked. Sudden changes of speed/direction after running that far are not fun and I saw one runner fall having been collected by a spectator. The fact that the organisers were still appealing for volunteers as late as Wednesday showed with the lack of Marshall control. 

This race could and should be one of the best but will only get there if it pays greater attention to the detail. Will I be back? Almost certainly, but they need to make some major improvements!