[runner]

Ok lets get one thing straight, at 52 I am not new to running...in fact I am a bit of a grizzled veteran :d and indeed I have run the Bath Half for many years...going back to the days when good old Jimmy Saville plodded the course surrounded by his entourage...is that really Jimmy in there!! In the early days of Bath only club runners took part and the affair was relatively low key, now I am not knocking the rise in the popularity of running which is great so long as the promoters understand that there is a limit to the amount of runners that any course will take....I think we have now surpassed that at Bath
So what happened yesterday? It was a windy/ wet day to run a half but given the popularity of Bath this did not deter us hardened runners. I arrived in the start area about 10.20 which should just give me enough time to warm up and take my position....or so I thought. The race takes place beside Bath Rugby Club and on an adjacent field tents/baggage area is set up...this was a quagmire having a top lair of slimy mud. Of course this is not the fault of the organisers but whats with all those metal fences? I know you have to keep order but to get anywhere on this wet day was a challenge without erecting temp metal fences everywhere! It was then announced that the race would start at 12.00...hopefully...and various reasons were given...not enough buses transporting competitors on the parknride, not enough medical aid, trains running late etc (there was even a rumour that the event may be cancelled) Yes they are all valid reasons but the point I am trying to make the organisers should be ready for problems of this nature and give clear and loud instructions....we now have up to 15000 runners trying to keep warm looking lost and attempting to find a way around the metal fences! I took shelter in the social club of Bath Rugby which was warm but soon got overcrowded....and I mean overcrowded! By pure luck I heard a runner saying that all competitors with a white number should make their way to the start...this was with 40mins to go...Again see the problem of so many runners they have to be moved and kept at the start for a long time....I could go on but my main gripe is this; Bath like a number of Half Marathons is now run as a business venture, we as competitors paid a high price to enter namely £30 and expect an enjoyable event, we did not get that yesterday! The message to the organiser is clear, yes promote running, yes have lots of runners out there...but for God sake realize the course has a limit....IT HAS NOW BEEN REACHED!!!
The only good thing about the run was that the rain had stopped by the time we started and I did a very respectable 1 hr 34 mins.....but I will not run next year there are much better organised races out there without all the hassle of yesterday!!!!

 

[Trinity]

we hear a similar story of the fiasco at Bath every year but people are still willing to pay the extortionate fee and experience that lack of organisation every year... I just don't get it!

 

[Steve]

This report makes me more deteremined to enter small events only.

I'd have gone home probably rather than hang about.

 

[Trinity]

Exactly Steve... smaller races run by clubs and runners who care more about the entrants, and not how much money they're making

 

[Littlefattie]

We got there even earlier, well before 10, and had to huddle with the crowd in any tent that had space just to keep warm. It was hard staying on your feet all that time to wait to run and I felt very cold and stiff when we set off. I'm a newbie to half marathons, having only run one before, so knew I wouldn't be fast, but even though wasn't last was a bit peeved that there were no T-shirts left by the time I got to the finish and you had to hunt for a medal! Thought the course and the spectators were great though and I will try it again just for that. My running partner was fed up as on the way back to the Park and Ride the pastie shop ran out just as we got there - 'should have run faster' he was told!

 

[cheriton]

With that kind or attitude to the runners the only way to get them to change is don't enter!!

It's very much like voting if enough people did it then the powers that be would have to sit up and take notice .

 

[scr8pe]

............ by the time I got to the finish and you had to hunt for a medal! ............

At the Reading Half two weeks ago, they too ran out of medals. It just ain't good enough, they know how many have entered beforehand and it isn't as if these events are run on a shoestring.

 

[Steve]

So where did the £30 entry fee go then....policing I bet