Each year in July I see a spike in visitors searching for information on the British 10k London Run. This year was no exception as visitors landed on my race report from July 2011. I noticed a pattern of search results this year in the general format of “complaint+british10k” so I browsed the Runner’s World Forum and the the British 10k Facebook page.
Boy oh boy. There were some unhappy runners this year!
I’ll start of by saying that my 2011 experience wasn’t that bad but I personally found the organisation to be poor: no wave starts based on finishing time, a long wait at the start of the race, the race starting late, inadequate water stations and an astonishingly high entrance fee. I enjoyed my run but decided to try the BUPA London 10,000, which is a better event, and I have run there instead each year.
I know that the 2012 event experienced a downpour of rain and reports at the time suggested that the uncovered baggage area was left unattended so runners were left to find their own belongings. This year the run was held during a heat wave and a lot of grumbles were from runners left standing in the sun at the start where once again the race was late starting. Again, there was no segregation of runners by projected finish time and the banks of walkers impede the runners who in turn annoy the walkers by trying to get past.
The cost of entry is now an eye watering £50 although did include chip timing, an official race photograph plus a technical running tee and a normal tee. The Facebook group had complaints of the organisers sending out plain old t-shirts because they had run out of the branded technical shirts. Not good.
If you want to run through central London in a 10k then my personal recommendation is to sign-up for the BUPA London 10,000 as the organisation is exemplary and is much better value for money. If you’re thinking about the British 10k London Run then I suggest reading through the Runner’s World Forum and the British 10k Facebook page posts to make your own informed decision.
