I love this race. The course is unbelievably scenic and it is on the good side of tough - plenty of downhill as well as up! Support on course is sporadic but the locals are incredibly enthusiastic about this race and come out in force near the villages and pubs. Lovely slate medal. Run to fundraise for Brathay trust so don't expect loads of freebies but who needs it when the race is so good.

This is now commonly known as 'the beautiful marathon' and I can see why. The Lakes are the subject of many an iconic British Poet and it is an absolute pleasure to run this course.
The marshalling is superb and as long as you keep the lake on your left as you go around it, you'll be fine.
Lots of hills but I've seen worse. There aren't too many fans out there as the local population is restricted to a few pubs and a few little villages on the route. The reception at Brathay Hall more than makes it up ! Awesome support at the finish !
So beautiful and 'do-able' that they do a '10 in 10' race, yep - 10 consecutive days of it as an extreme event (which I'm doing next year)
Medal is made of local slate - different - and the goody bag is sparse but you need to remember that this is a Charity based event.
Local accommodation is excellent and cheap !

I ran this race slowly a couple of years ago and decided to come back for another crack and it is still brilliant. The organization is great the scenery wonderful and the course challenging. Due to nature of the roads there is not much opportunity for spectators outside the towns but those that were there made up for lack in numbers, especially the lady with the cow bell. It is getting to be a must do and I only think it will get bigger in the years ahead.

I have read the comments about the 2010 Windermere Marathon already posted on this site and feel that I need to reply. This was my first-ever marathon and it was hard - not surprising, as I am 54! I won't comment on the contents of the goody bag as I don't think that was what the day was about. It was the challenge to run around Lake Windermere. The medal, I thought, was great - slate, which is so significant to the Lake District rather than the usual bit of metal given on Great Runs. The organization was superb, as was the whole day. I'm told that the burgers were great also, but I stuck to the bananas provided at the end.

The runners were led the short distance from the beautiful grounds on the edge of Lake Windermere to the start by a drum band. The sun shone, but it wasn't too hot. So what if I didn't get a t-shirt; I have plenty of race t-shirts that I never wear anyway. The event t-shirt was a running shirt - not the usual cotton - and was reasonably priced.
I hope that the charity banked lots of sponsorship money - I think that they deserved every single penny.

This was the second time I have run this race (my first was in 2008). In 2008, the goody bag was pretty good, with lots of food, drink, etc. This year (2010) it was a joke; there were lots of leaflets selling various things, no drink, two pens (yea, thanks!), and one tiny energy bar worth pennies. You don't even get a T-shirt (unless you want to buy one!) and you only get a small slate medal. All of this for over £30. I chucked the whole lot in the bin as soon as I looked at it. Great race, though, and very well marshaled, with plenty of drinks along the way. I will not run this race again, however.

The organization was great, and support, although sporadic outside of the towns, was warm and vocal. The hills meant that it would be hard to get a PB, but I would recommend it to anyone wanting an enjoyable day out. The drummers leading the runners down to the start added a nice touch.

Generally very well organized, with the exception of getting out of the car park at the end. This was unacceptable. Road closures and traffic management worked well. Drink stations had sports drinks, and chocolate-covered mint cake... mmm! Oh, and I forgot to mention the hills.

I've run both the revived marathons at Windermere - in 2007 and 2008.

It's organized by Brathay Hall - which is both a fantastic charity (largely aimed at disadvantaged young people) - and an amazing venue, just outside Ambleside. The big bonus is that you can stay at the Hall itself - a few yards away from the start/finish area! There is a village fete atmosphere, amazingly relaxing and inspiring at the same time.

The course is fairly challenging, with four moderate hill climbs and lots of undulations in between. The first 12 miles down to Newby Bridge are wonderful on mostly traffic-free lanes. There's no alternative to the main road in the second half of the race, although there is a lot of tarmac pavement - but it doesn't detract too much from the course. Plenty of pockets of support from Newby Bridge onwards and the marshaling is SUPERB.

This is a race that deserves to attract a bigger field (about 650 starters in 2008) and as long as you've done the hill training, it really is nothing to be afraid of - the climbs are all under 300' and - apart from one steep hill at around 7 miles - are easily graded.

A truly enjoyable race and a great day out to boot. Recommended!

Course has wonderful views and good mix of rolling hills. Traffic on roads was a bit congested; might be an issue if the race field becomes larger.

First 15 miles were good but from 16/17 miles, it was very hard going with two terrible hills.
The run to the finishing line up another steep incline was so cruel.