it was a last moment decision to run this race only registered on Monday last week. Received race instructions and felt confident of the format. Arrived in good time and parked at the venue. Short walk across the field to race registration to find race number and collect bib. Wondered round to find the toilets to stand in the queue and then be redirected to more toilets to avoid queuing. Friendly marshalls stop for a toilet queue chat. All very pleasant. There was a warm up conducted by the insite gym which despite not taking part in seemed very good. A race briefing which as ever you can't really hear as everyone is talking. Then a word from the charity the race is supporting which was a nice touch. We were off. First section was road and I wondered if wearing my inov8 trail shoes would come and bite me at some point, but we were quickly off-road in the nature reserve. The race had put white chalk around every possible trip r slip hazard which was lovely but also made me chuckle, drains, tree branches, steps, slight deviation in ground etc. There were so many marshalls who gave full in depth instructions if the section coming up, all smiling and clearly wanted to be there. Heroes of the day in my book. There were ample drink stops. My only down point was the laps around one section of the reserve which made me stop and ask as I was getting confused. The band in the underpass of the dual carriageway was lovely perhaps they can give Milton Keynes some tips on making the concrete sections better. The finish of the race was good with lots of people cheering you over the line and it was a nice touch than the maypole charity spokesman was out on the course cheering us on too. As you finished you got your medal and water and banana and some cheery marshals to ask if you enjoyed yourself. The bar was open for people to sit and enjoy the atmosphere and there were massages being done. All in all I walked away from that race having really enjoyed it. My running app however did clock 14.2 miles