John Walker's Staging Area

I echo what other reviewers have said. Personally, I do not recommend this race and will not do it again.

The start was chaotically organised. There was poor public transport link to the start line – the Fertagus train service was overloaded and Pragal, the arrival station, could not handle the influx of runners – it took 15 minutes just to exit the station. The 30 minute walk to the bridge toll plaza was interrupted by two security checks which were completely swamped the crowd. As others have noted, the gear check truck left early and some had to run with gear – the start line was also littered with abandoned gear. At the start line, the crowds were such that I and many runners could not join their correct start zone. Shortly before start, fences were opened which mixed the start groups anyway.

The bridge has a great view, but it causes crowding and due to the mixed paces it means faster runners lose time, stuck in the dense pack. I lost 1 min off target time on the bridge crossing alone. The rest of the course is flat, but uninteresting.

Transport links from the finish line were also completely overwhelmed. I ended up running 3km back to my accommodation.

Positives:
Great water stations – frequent, well-staffed, and plastic bottles easier to grab than paper cups. (Note this race does not seem very ‘green’ – plastic bottles everywhere, portable generators powering all the inflatable arches.)

Good supplies at finish line – water, ice cream, bananas, beer (regular and no-alcohol).

Lisbon itself! Good value, lots of history and character – I’ll come back, but not for this race.