Simplyhealth Great Birmingham Run

They seem to change the course every few years but it's well organised and get atmosphere. I've enjoyed it so much I've managed to complete all of them so far

I haven’t run since doing this race. It broke me mentally and physically. It rained the whole way around. I kept slipping. I wouldn’t do this run again. It really put me off. The rain was torrential the whole way around.

Well organised, would recommend! The first half of the course is flat or downhill! The second half has a few hills! Lots of support even though it was raining the whole event!

Really well organised course with helpful marshals, clear signage and great support pre-race (training schedules, community support). It was a terrible day weather wise, but the supporters who were out were absolutely brilliant and the bands added to a great atmosphere. There was plenty of water, gels and toilets on route, and the course was predominantly flat or downhill. Not a scenic route, but the parts around broad street, the cricket ground and cannon hill Park were great. I wouldn’t hesitate to do this race again, it was my first half and I loved it!

It was a great event, I have run in few event around the West Midlands in the past 2 years! I felt like the great Birmingham event was far more the best I have ever seen! The music all along, the audience and lots of free bits at the end! I ve never seen any event like the great Birmingham 10k of 2019! Really enjoyed it and it inspired to do the next Birmingham half marathon!

This was my very first half marathon, I can honestly say it did not disappoint. When I arrived, there were lots of signs and people at hand to point me in the right direction of the registration stations, which helped ease my nerves straight away. There were different stations for different waves. I had chosen the challenger wave: this was a good pace for a beginner who had been training hard and wanted to try and aim for just under a 10 minute mile pace. The start of the race was well organised with waves being called to the start line for their warm ups in intervals, and then away you went. The route was pleasant, as were my fellow runners. Many offered encouraging words to anyone who appeared to be flagging. At one stage, I developed a cramp in my leg so walked for a moment; at this point one of the Duracell pacers (who happened to be an Olympic runner, who was holding the 10 min mile pace flag) spurred me on with her words of encouragement. Along the route there were toilets and water stations, they were easily accessible and plentiful so did not put any strain or stress on sabotaging my target time. I did not use the toilets so I am not aware of the condition they were in or the queuing time involved. The crowds along the way were wonderful, often calling out my name and cheering for me (as my name was on my bib) and offering refreshments, sweets and even comical signs, which put a smile on my face at even the most painful moment of the race. Apparently, on previous versions of this half marathon, there was a particularly nasty hill towards the end of the route; but luckily the year I participated the route was rerouted because of roadworks. There were a few hills towards the latter end of the route but nothing that was unmanageable; it was mostly a flat route. I would definitely recommend this race to first timers and anyone looking for a great atmosphere: I will be coming back again in 2019 to try and beat my time.

Great race despite the awful weather!