Second time we have run this 10k.  The course itself is flat, and winds round the pretty historic parts of Oxford before finishing in the university parks, which is lovely.  Race village is busy but plenty to see / eat and drink / good atmosphere.  

This is not a PB course due to the numbers of people at the start, which leads me to the chaos getting to the starting area.  The race village is a five minute walk away from the start which had moved a little further into town this year.  The kids fun run commenced in the park before the main 10k, and runners were moving en mass across the park and across the path of the kids running.  Other than a couple of marshalls who were trying to start and stop people crossing the path, it was reliant on runners shouting for people to get out the way as kids approached, and must have been intimidating for those kids running who rounded a corner to see hundreds of adult runners blocking their path.  People were unable to get out the way due to the massive bottleneck of people trying to go through one gateway.  

There were no pens or suggestion of where to stand depending on predicted time at the start.  I suspect a lot of people just kept moving forwards as it was not clear this year where the start actually was.  Don't know if they had any kind of loud speaker system or what, as no one near me could hear when the race started.  Hence a lot of weaving through people for the first couple of kilometres, and a couple of bottle necks slowing people to a walk.  

There was also a runner with a dog starting near me towards the middle of the pack.  This is not a suitable event to take dogs, and the poor thing looked more suited to a run round the park rather than being jostled by a crowd of people.  As a result, it was also jumping up people as we waited to start, and consequently got in people's way when we set off.  

Further chaos came at the water stations which were unprepared for the amount of runners coming through.  The first water stop was too short, just a couple of tables long, and they were desperately trying to fill cups of water as runners had to stand and queue in the heat for a drink. One of our friends who was spectating near the second water stop observed the marshalls there chatting until the first runners approached, then started to try and fill up cups in a panic as there were none ready.  

The last bit of chaos came after the finish line where runners were ushered off to one side to collect their goody bags, completely missing the water on the other side, resulting in having to double back to try and find a drink!

Despite the hiccups with the organisation, the run was good fun and a lovely route.  However, it was ridiculously expensive this year (over £30 for a 10k) which I think put people off given that there were on the day entries for the first time ever.