VLM - Green Start

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willdowney May 2016 3:03pm, 3 May 2016 43 posts	0 willdowney What are peoples impression of the Green Start area at VLM? I've done Blue twice and my experience of Green was very bad. Toilet ques were really bad - at 9.30am the ques were looping round, even for the urinals – Ques were bad in Blue but moved fast and I was able to que both years with 30 minutes to spare. I felt the guys constant tannoys about bags very off putting - even with 35 mins to go he was making it sound like you needed to get there right that minute.
becca7 May 2016 3:33pm, 3 May 2016 6,759 posts	0 becca7 I've run from Blue twice and Green three times. The tannoy was a nuisance but I held my nerve and stayed in the loo queue and didn't find the loo queue took longer. I have vastly preferred running from Green as the pacing of those in front and around is good, whereas on Blue it was Wacky Races.
TRO Saracen May 2016 3:37pm, 3 May 2016 12,780 posts	0 TRO Saracen I liked the Green Start, no complaints at all. Across the start line in about 2 minutes, mainly surrounded by people there to race. I had a coffee, couple of loo visits and dropped my bag off when they said, all pretty stress free.
donran May 2016 4:34pm, 3 May 2016 184 posts	0 donran I've done blue once and green twice. Definitely preferred the green. Toilet visits have been restricted to one trip to the urinals in green last year but there was barely any queue with about half an hour to go. I did notice there was a longer queue in the last few minutes this year but most folk around me seemed to be jumping out of the other side of the pen to relieve themselves in a wooded area up a side street.
Bazoaxe May 2016 8:37pm, 3 May 2016 10,044 posts	0 Bazoaxe the constant baggage reminders and panicing people started last year, I saw it on Red FGFA. I agree toilet Qs were worse in green that red FGFA, but the gents urinals did move quite quickly. Start was fine as well, over the line in 10 seconds and another 10 seconds to get past the celebs
BaronessBL May 2016 9:54pm, 3 May 2016 5,461 posts	0 BaronessBL I've started on Green once much preferred it to blue or red. The toilet queues were not too bad as I recall and the start moved pretty quickly.
paul a May 2016 10:30pm, 3 May 2016 10,844 posts	0 paul a Dreadful, only 2 of my 9 Londons have been fron the Green Start and both have been overpopulated for the limited available space, made worse by supposed celebs being positioned too near the front.
willdowney May 2016 10:39am, 4 May 2016 44 posts	0 willdowney I agree - The start was a lot smoother than blue...At 9.30 I didnt see enough time to join the que for the toilet, go and get to my start pen comfortabley - Just seemed like it was overcrowded and the area and more toilets are needed and more room allocated for changing area etc.
donran May 2016 10:45am, 5 May 2016 186 posts	0 donran I agree that the pens themselves seemed to be more crowded this year. I struggled to get in and noticed that the 3h 15m pacer wasn't able to get into the pen before the start. Just assumed it was because I'd left it to 9.25 to get into the pen. Was absolutely fine once the gun went off.
FreshStart May 2016 10:48am, 5 May 2016 2,517 posts	0 FreshStart Although it took me almost 30 minutes to actually cross the start line (red start pen 9), there were loads of toilets. I think my maximum wait time was 3 minutes. Runners seemed to enjoy queuing and didn't seem prepared to walk the 100m across the park to the far quieter toilets.