A really good half marathon. I hope next year's HM will have better water stops & avoid running loops in the carpark.. it would be amazing to incorporate headland & have two iconic seafronts. But overall a really good day

The route and water will be improved for next year, which will make this an even better HM. Let's hope the event continues to build and more folk come to watch!

General feedback from a first-time HM'er:
- Overall organisation very good.
- Course predominantly very good; wasn't too keen on the 'out & back' bits or the car park sections, but understand the overall issues with the course and ensuring that the correct distance was run.
- Water stations need improvement - not big enough or enough marshals on them. A bit chaotic to be honest.
Overall - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, it was a great event. Well-manned and a scenic flat route. The conditions on the day were warm, and the water stations were not able to match demand. I prefer water stations that give out bottles of water, whereas this event had paper cups.

I am from Hartlepool but now live in Suffolk. It was very exciting to come home and do this race. My one disappointment was that the route - although scenic - was predominantly Seaton Carew rather than Hartlepool. A figure of 8 taking in both Seaton and Historic Headland would have been amazing and would have brought some much needed footfall to that area of the town too rather than repeating part of Seaton (car park

Decent route, and despite roadworks affecting the original planned route, it was dealt with well by the organisers, avoiding laps. For a summer event, more water stations are necessary, but the volunteers did their best. Overall the atmosphere and friendliness of the course was excellent, and volunteers were brilliant. I had started quite near the front, but despite that still couldnt hear any announcements. Overall, I'd recommend the race, Wild Deer are great friendly events, and it was nice to get some sea air and a view of the coast for most of the run.

It’s been 40 years since the last Hartlepool HM and this was a welcome addition. Flat route (parkrun along the sea front), few loops and turns to make up the distance - where better to run than along the coastline?
Only issue was the loop on the pier a mile in, congested and the flyers were agitated at having people running against them. Hot day like - few degrees cooler next year please !!

Good route, clear directions. Accessible event and well organised. Unforeseen ridiculous weather was challenging for everyone. Would like the end not to have a loop back but understand local council restrictions made the route design inflexible. Glad I did it and would do it again

Looked at the course before this run and was dreading it but it wasn’t as bad as expected. Appreciate there were restrictions with road works.
Could have done with better signage from the car parks to registration and the start.
Could have had some toilets at the start.
Main issue was the water stations - no Vroom hydration other than at the first station. Water cups weren’t filled more than half and had to wait. The weather had an impact with being so warm. Definitely need to sort this for next year - small individual bottles or pouches would be better.
Overall I enjoyed this race and would do it again.

This event was really well ran considering it was its first year. The route was really great, the switchbacks weren’t as bad as they looked on the map. The medal is unique.

However the switch back at the start within the first mile didn’t work well as all the runners were still bunched together, but apart from that great event, I would recommend!

Yes, a bit more water would have been great, but overall a lovely event. The Marshalls were friendly and helpful. The beach views were great.

The car “park run” felt like I was queueing to check in on holiday!

Hope to do it again! Thanks for a great event

Lovely views on a route for us tourists!
Really well organised entry and exit. Great free parking, easy to collect numbers and plenty of toilets if you get there early enough there was no issue.
Fab volunteers and finish line atmosphere. Other people's comments on the water stations may be valid on a hot day, but marshals did the best they could.

Would recommend more marshals out on course better communication.
Better traffic management.
More community engagement.
Overall ideal beginner route
Should be a tail walker for this event.

Great event well organised needs to more water available on the course

This was me and my husbands first half marathon. It was such a lovely day (apart from being very hot )
Absolutely amazing atmosphere and the views were spectacular.
The only issue we had was we felt like there wasn’t enough water stations and when there was, there wasn’t enough water or we were waiting for the water to be poured out.

Race was well organised as expected from Wild deer! So well done on that.
As one of the slower runners, there was difficulty getting water especially at the 2nd water station. Given the heat, this was less than ideal.
Route was ok, but I understand there were some "red tape challenges" around that, so hands were tied.

It was a good run route was less tedious than i thought it was going to be. Though a few points:

Need better start management. Though i guess if its same next year will have a longer road to use as works will be done... need more and louder speakers so we can all hear.

The jetty out and back at the start... far to many people to do that at the start.

Car park zig zag at the sandy is a bit silly.

Though i appreciate route options may be limited to what hbc let you do with road closureds etc

Water: cups to small not enough water and needed 2 more sation particually in the heat we had.

Plusses: really like medal/tshirt design.

Was a fun run even with the issues really enjoyed it, happy and supportive martials and crowd.

Bring it on next year great to have an event on my doorstep.

More water stations if it's hot. Probably about right if not, but maybe move from mile 11 to mile 10.

A Course map in advance would be useful to avoid demoralising there-and-backs (although a few hundred people will now have it on their Strava)

I enjoyed the event today. As I was running I reflected that I’ve been running half marathons for 44 years. This one was as good as any road half that I’ve completed. The route was pleasing and not at all boring like some. I’m glad that you avoided laps and went for out and backs, instead, which I don’t mind at all. It was a very hot day (my time was 7 mins slower than Sunderland 2 weeks ago). You can’t control that during a heatwave but a couple of extra ad hoc water stations would have helped. I carried my own drink but it’s not all about me