On arrival it was unclear where to go to register and where to go to see the Wife Carrying championship. The wife carrying competition started early so even though we arrived on time, based on the timeline shared in the Leith Hill run email, it was almost over by that point.

Friendly, low key, race. Some decent ascent for the south east. Dry conditions made in t easier. Good encouragement and banter between runners. For beginners it is friendly, as long as you're okay with some hills it's a cracker. As with many events it was hard to hear the pre race brief.

Very challenging route, but a great event. Really well organised, super friendly and the marshalls all did a great job. Only suggestions would be better signage for the breakfast (which was a lovely touch), a few more helpers for sign in, and make the water station at coldharbour a bit more two way, so that runners can keep their momentum on the return leg and deposit empty cups at a bin 50m along the track

Will certainly return for another crack at the course next year!

My second time. I really like this event as it's very small and almost village like so the support and atmosphere is great (whereas big events are more of a machine and faff) - including the breakfast afterwards where loads of people get together. Whilst I can run a half marathon fine, this course is a real challenge and I fell over the line feeling like I had learned a lesson and Monday morning was interesting.

Minor feedback; the medal was disappointing. The grand medal of 2024 when you fall over the line a broken person having slogged your way up 10km of hill and trail seemed to reflect the effort and mark it out, whereas this year was a bit primary school. It wouldn't stop me entering again as there's too many other positives.

Well organised race.
Nice route.
Wife carrying race to spectate before :D

Great value for money - nice goodies at the finish line and cooked breakfast for brunch included in a very reasonable price.
Optional t-shirt which I wish I purchased given the design and white colour not black/dark like most of the races.

One minor thing to possibly improve.
The encouragement to arrive by public transport is nice, but at the same time all train stations are few kilometers away while buses are infrequent on Sunday.
Maybe create a car sharing WhatsApp group and send out in the info email before.

I've run/jogged/crawled this event a few times now, tough but fun route and I enjoyed the additional loop at the start this year. The organisers did an amazing job, marshalls were cheerful and encouraging throughout. Really friendly atmosphere and the post race goodies were great. Thank you!

A great event, well presented. My only issues were a couple of navigational wobbles in the woods in the final few kms, but fortunately I made the right choices.

Prefer earlier start time. Even an hour earlier. Thanks.

Well organised, great course - challenging, well marked - friendly, lovely to have the post-run breakfast etc. Thank you to the organisers and all the marshalls.

5 stars from me. Lovely weather, challenging but runnable course well marked out (there was just one place where an extra marker would have helped) and good selection of snacks at the end. Was is a pack of about 5 or so competitors which made for some great racing (and enjoyed overtaking the triathletes on the climbs). Personally would ditch the medals and add chip timing with some splits, maybe a separate KOM time for the main climb up to Leith Hill from the 2nd aid station.

Very well organised local event. Handy to have the school for parking, registration, toilets and cooked food at the end. I loved the medal! Although metal medals are far superior, nowadays most trail events have switched to wooden medals that are usually pretty boring, this one is my favourite wooden one.
An idea for next year could be to charge for additional breakfasts. My little boy, as many other kids in the cafeteria, were "stealing" food from their parents, I think it would be nice if there was an option to buy additional sausages/etc. as the prize giving is over lunchtime anyway.

First timer and haven't run a half marathon since 2021 but absolutely loved the challenge. Organisation was faultless, all helpers and marshalls were super supportive. Other runners generous in their support as they are running slopes and you are struggling up them. Weather conditions were perfect and the breakfast afterwards a nice touch and very welcoming. Highly recommend but unless you are an experienced trail runner then wet conditions would make it a lot less enjoyable.

Super well organised. Challenging trail but the view was so worth it. Very friendly and helpful staff and marshals. I am so glad I've chosen this event to be my first-ever half marathon. I for one loved the wooden medals - nature-y and sustainable, plus the carving of the tower is beautiful!

This is a very challenging route, but the organisation before and after makes it a great day - you get incredible value for money, with the breakfast and goody bag included.

My general feedback for improvement next year is to bring back proper medals. I understand the cost and environmental decisions behind the wooden ones. However, I believe the route is deserving of a proper medal providing memorabilia for participants embarking on the challenge.

The briefing was near on impossible to hear even at the front. Louder PA system, and perhaps asking runners to respect the briefing by being quiet for a couple of minutes.

Lastly, the question in the feedback - is this friendly for beginners. I’m not sure if you’re referring to the general event (people involved) or the route. It’s a yes for the event and people, a no for the route.

A really enjoyable race, with a new team organising things this year for the first time. I liked the extra loop at the start to get it over the 21.1km half marathon distance.

I see some complaints about the reusable medal - none from me. I have way too many old medals kicking around to store yet another chunk of the world's resources in a drawer. It's nice to have a memento, but it doesn't need to be The Stanley Cup.

Another vote for more decibels for the PA at the start, please. I know the route well, but I had no idea what on-the-day announcements were.

The water stations could use more helpers to get water into runners hands, and to stand "downstream" to collect cups.

In all, a great event in new, safe, hands.

Fantastic event. If only the sun shined like that all the time. Agree with the comments re microphone - although as I ran last year it wasn’t an issue; find the nearest hill and run up it! Last years medal was great but I think this years medal was also very nice - sustainable materials and still big enough to make it feel like we’d done something very important :) Great organisation again. Lots of smiley faces, good vibes and boosting cheers from the volunteers on route. Will be in the diary as a yearly repeat. Brought along a friend who also said the same thing. #fivestars #recommend

It’s now a half marathon distance, so good route changes with the warm up lap and also avoiding the chicken run.
Tons of Marshalls - where did they all come from? And so friendly.
Great weather, nice goodie bag with beer, bananas and nibbles and a nice breakfast to finish with.

Couple of very minor niggles - No tea or coffee with breakfast - that was a major blow after 13 miles….
Also quite a long queue for registration- might be better to organise numbers by name order plus have a separate queue for swap of places/queries etc.

All in all a great race under new organisers.

My first organised half marathon and loved it. The route & scenery superb, the marshalls great, the other runners very supportive...and the post run snacks and cooked breakfast hit the spot.

My main point of feedback - I'd like the Leith Hill tower at the top to be the top and the turning point. I'd rather have run a loop or two more at the start to avoid that.

Thank you, I'll hopefully be back another year.