I figured with the 2012 entries about to open shortly it was about time I wrote this review. Face For Life was the first Running event I took part in. Yay me! I also completed the 10k (6.2 miles) in 44 minutes which included 3 stops to stretch and re hydrate. Not too shabby, huh? This location takes entries for both 5k and 10k of which I took the latter. With each entry into the Race you then get your own customize-able Sponsor page so it makes taking sponsor's a lot easier. Not only that but RFL also do ''Gift Aid Plus'' this is a bonus where if your sponsor is a UK Tax Payer you can earn an extra 25% towards your goal! The day of the event was a little unorganized but the whole crowd was in high spirits. The Common was set up with Porter Loo's, a few vendors selling Food and Drinks and a large stage where music was being played and 30 minutes before the race started there was a short aerobics warm up which although was fun, wasn't all that effective. They did try to organize participator's in order of speed by calling runners to wait up at the start line first, followed by the joggers then the walkers but as soon as the first announcement was made everyone just made a mad dash to queue up so me (a runner) ended up in the back third of the queue which then took me a good half a mile to get up a decent pace while dodging in and out of the walkers. With the Common being a decent size one lap was 5k and two laps was (of course) 10k, some of the ground was very uneven and some spots had very long grass which wasn't very pleasant as it kept whipping my legs and yes... even made me bleed. Things I do for Charity, huh? Despite this spirits continued to be high, there were many people watching cheering us on and as it was right on the main road many drivers passing by beeped their horn in encouragement too. There were also a few perverted jeers from sad case males who clearly hadn't had female interaction in some time but that happens everywhere and I've personally found it very easy to ignore and even made for some of the ladies to be entertained by it joking among themselves. End of the race comes and there are two finish lines - one for the 5k'ers and one for the 10k'ers which was a nice feature. There was a timer at each line and a huge group of event workers giving out goodie bags and Medal's for those just completing the race. Each bag included a bottle of water, a Nutrigrain bar and a few skincare items (Deodorant, Foot Spray, Nivea Lotion ect). There didn't seem to be much going on afterwards so I decided to head towards home. Overall a fun race to take part in but needs a little more organization, it's a real shame I've now relocated to California, USA because I would love to take part in another but unfortunately isn't worth the £1,000 flight back in order to take part. read more

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