Brooks Half Marathon feedback

Brooks Off road Half Marathon Feedback 2009

Hi there, just wanted to say what a great event you put together for todays Half Marathon around the mountain.
I came down from Hamilton with 2 others and all of us thoroughly enjoyed it ..... despite the horrendous heavy rain we had listened to all night here in Hamilton! Other than the bitingly cold wind ( which you are no doubt more used to!) when not sheltered by the hill or forest, the weather was very kind by not raining.
The organization was great, the track so well marked and loved seeing the distance we had covered every km!! Had some great views along the way and loved the variety of terrain... and the authenticity with the fresh animal manure as well!!
I realize a lot of preparation has gone into it so thankyou and I hope to be part of it again .... maybe in summer next time???

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Would like to thank you for a great event today . It was really well orgainzed and the course was awesome . First time I have done a off road event and it was a lot better than I thought it would be ...

Great job to you and the team
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Thank you so much for today's event. It was well organised and I loved it for two more reasons. The first reason is the amazing route which I cannot go on at another time. It is hard for me, as a Taupo resident, to pay many dollars to do an event on a route which I can use any time I want to. Going round the mountain was a new experience, well marked and it was great to be able to tick of progress after each kilometer marking - especially since I did not do any training beforehand.

Secondly the absence of a "prizegiving" at the end, where we have to stand in the cold in case of a spot prize draw. It always annoys me to wait there when I would rather have a hot shower or spa bath, just to appease the sponsors who are mentioned in many other ways. The spot prizes in the goodie bags went smoothly. It made me glad that I supported "Smith's Shoes" last week by buying a pair of running shoes from them. For that reason they can count of my loyalty in future as well.

All the best for next year's event.
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Well back in Auckland thinking of the run yesterday.
Congratulations on a great run, and you even kept the rain off; which was very fortunate as on top of that wind,may have meant lots of hypothermia.
It did feel like a really slow start- cold muscles, uphill into that wind, it was hard. I didn't see a km marker until 4km; I had my head down following the people in front - good job they knew where they were going :-)

The km markers were really appreciated - keep them for next year. And no mud - I'm not used to that, always end up covered in mud up here! Last Xterra series run I did, it was a case of slalom slides on the backside down MTB downhill tracks!!

The coffee and especially the hot chocolates were great,.....when they came. Perhaps suggest to the coffee guy that he bring a helper next year, as there was a really long wait at times.
Standing in the queue, exposed to the wind having just done that windy run was hard - good job there were neat people to talk to in the queue. :-) The loudspeaker system wasn't loud enough, unless you were really close, it wasn't possible to hear you using it, let alone what was said. So more volume next year please.

Looking forward to seeing the results, but think I just missed out on under 2 hours - too much walking up those steep bits O:-) Anyway enjoyed the event, I may not make the Kinloch 1/2 as it's only week before Abel Tasman, so may have to wait till next year before I get down to an event in Taupo.
But include me on your mailing list for running events.
Please pass my thanks on to all the helpers and landowners who made the event possible, it's appreciated :-)
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Hi Nick
That was an awesome event yesterday!! Nice to do an event where it is about the challenge of completing the event and not all the "frills". The toughest course I have ever done but the best too. It certainly never got boring! Really good idea to do the spot prizes the way you did (and thanks for the socks!!) and not to have a prizegiving especially at this time of the year with it being so cold. I am sure it will become an iconic event and I am already looking forward to doing it again next year.
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Just have to say thanks so much for an awesome event today! OK, it could have been a few degrees warmer!!! but at least it wasn't wet.
Please pass on my thanks to all the marshalls/aid station volunteers etc who had to stand out in that freezing weather for us- very much appreciated!

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Dear Nick,
Thanks for running an awesome event yesterday.
We thoroughly enjoyed it although I did think I might die of oxygen deprivation during the first 3km.
The cold wind seem to suck all the air from my lungs!!!
I chose to use your water stops which were much appreciated, however I did feel guilty having to throw away over half a cup of water at each stop.
To save your water on future events maybe have your volunteers only half full the cups as I gather many people did the same as I did.
We will be back next year if we are able and if you run it again.

Thanks to the amazing landowners who supported you and us in this event and also your sponsors.
Also please thank all the volunteers who were probably colder than we were and were all smiling none the less.
In particular your man on the car park who then became a man on a gate somewhere along the way.
We will be down again if we can for the Taupo half.
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Congratulations on putting together a great event. Apart from the weather there was not too much to complain about! I loved the course which was I would describe as "old school x-country". Next year you should have a barefoot running division (I'm being serious)! It was a good sense of achievement and I'd say you'd have a lot of happy punters out there. Well done.
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Thanks Nick... Congratulations on an extremely well run event. Your crew obviously know what they are doing and were great to work with.
A great turnout for a first time event - especially considering the cold weather
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Congratulations on a great first event. Not a bad turn out given the glacial conditions. Fantastic course and well organised. Loved not having to wait around in the cold for a prize giving I wasn't going to win anything in either. It's an event that is sure to grow in popularity. There were one or two people I met who were using it as a training run for the Taupo half marathon (on road). Ha! They should be pretty well prepared then. Hope to see it on the programme for next year. Lee.
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Thanks for a well-organised event. Looks like it's going to be a keeper .. now for the wind ...?? :-)

Gus found it a great challenge but would readily do it again. Maybe in a couple of years we'll let him do the whole course...
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I did the Brooks half on Sunday and wanted to say how much I enjoyed it. Really nice course with heaps of variety and the right amount of challenge in the first half. Great sign-posting and distance marks.

Thanks again for a terrific event.
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Just wanted to say cheers to you and your team for putting on an awesome event today. Everything was well organized. Your team around the course, the parking attendants and the admin people were all really friendly and helpful which made for an enjoyable day out. The course itself I found really challenging but highly rewarding especially the views!!
Anyway, all the best for your other events you organize and I look forward to coming back next year to hopefully better my time!!
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I would like to congratulate you on organising what I'm sure will become a well regconised annual event and can only imagine the work that has gone into it. The course was great, with alot of preperation gone into it, especially the bush section, well done!! My son and I will be back next year much better prepared.