The marshals were excellent as usual. We are grateful for the early start as we have to put the dog in kennel and collect him at a certain time. As we have a long journey home this suits us. One criticism is the t-shirts and the lack of smaller sizes. I nearly didn't have one and it was only because a man changed his size that I got one.

My first road marathon having done many trail events. Course was beautiful but slightly lumpy. Organisation pre-race was good.
One suggestion; in addition to the portaloos, include a porta-urinal. This would clear a lot of men out of the queue.
Marshalls were excellent all round and especially encouraging on the water stations which were much needed on a hot day. My legs are sore, but the positive vibes are strong.

You should be extremely proud of this local event.

T-Shirt and medal are great this year. Thank you!

This is a staple in the Essex calendar. It’s my 4th time of competing. It’s a challenging course with great support through the villages. Would recommend it to a beginner as it’s friendly and encouraging. The relaxed atmosphere is ideal for a marathon. The weather always seems to be excellent too. Sometimes too excellent

A very tough but beautiful course, the organisation and support were amazing, 5 water stations and gels, with 3 for personal drinks which were much needed on a very hot day. Highly recommend this one! Thank you

My 10th time, here and yes the course is beautiful, generally traffic free and the Marshalls at the water points are all very good, however, despite entering the event months ago, it cost me the best part of £60 which for me is too expensive, there are many cheaper similar events out there. The race brief needs proof reading before it’s sent, 2025,2024 and even 2015 get mentioned which was a little confusing. Water in cups always bugs me especially on a hot day like today, despite selecting a shirt size when entering, only large and x-large were left which again, sorry I find poor considering the price point, maybe don’t provide all your club with ‘crew’ T-shirts which were covered by hi-viz tabards to reduce the cost to the runners? Finally I’m not sure how much longer you can advertise the club as being voted top 3 marathon in the Uk, pretty sure that was 15 years ago and once, maybe a new marketing strategy is required?

Overall the course, marshalls and scenery make this event what it is.

I would echo all the positive points above - this really is a fantastic event with the loveliest marshalls. The only downside is the T shirt size selection. I ordered a women’s medium, but by the time I finished there were only unisex large left and the only use I can have for it is as a very oversized night shirt, to add to my collection of oversized Halstead shirts. I know this must be difficult, and I feel like a bit of a grinch after such a brilliantly organised event, but perhaps a start would be to stop people swapping sizes from the size ordered and to bias the pre-order to more smaller shirts?

I ran the first ever Halstead Marathon in 1995 coming 3rd position and then have run most ever since including the hot conditions today winning MV60 GOLD and will be back next year for more !

Thankyou to Hannah Whale (Race Director) and the EXCELLENT HALSTEAD TEAM !

Great amount of water stations, loved that you could give your own hydration to the lorry to drop at tables, every 3 miles. Beautiful scenic root, easy parking and great medal

What an amazing event! From entering with brilliant course information and updates, to the warm and friendly welcome on arrival, the huge support, organisation and obvious effort that has gone into arranging this run. The marshalling was brilliant, helpful, friendly, encouraging and supportive the whole way round. Thank you all so much ❤️

thanks to the marshalls who really gave us great support. Its a lovely event, made special by the people who run it !

What a great event. Marshals were amazing as were the locals who came out to support.

One negative. When ordering the t-shirts - there were male/female options but the race only had unisex shirts. When ordering unisex, most women will pick a different size. I normally select a Women's Medium but Unisex Small - because unisex is men's sizes and the medium is massive. Just say they are unisex when ordering and we will order the appropriate size.