Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts HQ, Douglas House Meadow, Richmond, TW10 7AH
Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts HQ, Douglas House Meadow, Richmond, TW10 7AH
I really hate giving bad reviews, but I'm going to write what I wish I'd read before booking.
The base wasn't adequate for the number of participants. There were multiple queues, which were not being manned so you had no idea what was going on or where to queue, and had to rely on asking others.
Once I collected my bib I then needed to join an even longer queue for the toilets. Two female cubicles is not sufficient, and the disabled toilet didn't flush! Porter loos in future please. There were also no porter loos enroute, which meant I saw a lot of men in the bushes!
The conditions were rough. You cannot control the weather, granted, but the path was majority rocky terrain which bordered on trail. This was no communicated on the website and yet the medal clearly states "trail run". With the down pour the night before we were either swimming through mud, leaping over puddles or navigating rocky paths.
The path was packed with the public. Again, you cannot control this but there were lots of disgruntled walkers, who got pushed and covered in mud, as well as the off lead dogs and numerous cyclists.
The "aid stations" were manned with 3 people holding a bucket of sweets, pretzels and gels, don't you love a lucky dip! Only on the way back did the 5km station have an inch of electrolyte in a plastic cup. After 15km!
These are the things I wish I had known before booking, as I would have definitely booked elsewhere.