Toughrunneruk Reviews 138

Amazing race at the penllegaer 10k, all round atmosphere was high and well posted. Pukka medals also on behalf on THH

I’m a huge fan of the Hoka half at afan forest. I always cross the finish line with my numpty friend wealding a greggs steak bake. Toughrunner is a quality company and always puts on great events!

I have done the Hoka winter trail half marathon every year for the past few years and always find it a very well organised and fun event. Can't wait to do it again in 2024.

A real shame that this company are still running. They will no doubt put people off entering organised endurance events with their scamming ways. Cancelled the Edinburgh triathlon again this year (with the most recent occasion apparently being due to a family accident. Please forgive me if I'm not inclined to believe this. Boy who cried wolf springs to mind). No contact has been made regarding refunds since cancelling earlier in the week and from looking at other reviews, it seems unlikely that competitors will be seeing their entry fee again. After a nosey online, it appears there were previously 3 directors of the company but 2 resigned and left just 1 guy to carry on stealing from people. Will be telling everyone I know who is into running/triathlon etc to avoid!

Edited to add that when I again emailed the company after posting my review, they got back to me and promptly refunded my £80 without issue. So, thank you for that, Tough Runner. It has raised my opinion of you

Terrible dishonest company. Cancelled the cork triathlon. At very short notice and still won’t process my refund. They are essentially a scam events company. Don’t bother signing up to their events as you will be disappointed

Fantastic event. Staff were so friendly and supportive. Route was very challenging as expected. Fab medal for all finishers!
Disappointing that the food vendors didn’t turn up and the coffee vendors were not reliable. No reflection on the organisers. Would highly recommend

Just completed the tough runner 24 hour challenge. What an experience very friendly marshall’s who encouraged you at every opportunity.

Have completed a few of their events and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to challenge themselves.

A big shout out to the Tough Runner team

Just completed tough runners first 24 hour race and already excited to sign up for next year. I have taken part in so many of their events now, each one is a challenging course but the sense of achievement at the end is worth it.

Thank you tough runner staff I will see you all very soon 🧡🖤🧡

I signed up and took part in the Tough Runner 24 hours race and also the Cotswold 10k in March, each race was well organised and the Marshalls were always super friendly. Would Recommend.

Signed up for the St Ives Triathlon which was cancelled. Been promised a refund numerous times but still nothing.

Avoid avoid avoid do not use this scam company. I requested a refund for the cancelled St Ives tri and have received nothing. Sent numerous emails had one reply informing me it would be settled in four weeks that was weeks ago nothing since. The contact telephone number is no longer available, surprise. I've given up having a refund now,how they get away with it is beyond me. Stay away from this company.

Signed up to a race that got cancelled and postponed twice. I asked for a refund, was told I could have one, sent my bank details and heard nothing back. I have sent multiple messages and emails and was given a phone number which I was blocked from after calling once. I am £90 down which is no joke in the current climate. Then just got an email asking me to marshall the same event!! Avoid avoid avoid. There are so many lovely small companies that host events around the country that don't mess you around. Support them instead of this scam. Can't believe they get away with it.

AVOID! - Regularly 'Organise' events, cancel a week or so before for no reason and keep your entry fee....AVOID!

Awful 'Company' that seemingly 'organise' events, then cancel last minute with no explanation and keep your entry fee. They then promise a refund but not stick to the promise and then ignore all attempted contact. I have taken then to the small claims court (we are a year into the process). They have been issued with a county court judgement which they have refused to respond to after 30days which should have a damaging effect on them as a company, with bailiffs the next route for me to claim any assets to return my money back to me. I will never use them again and would advise anybody reading this to never use tough runner. I have a very large network of runners/triathletes that I am spreading the word to in an attempt to put a stop to this company’s scam

The Bristol Triathlon was an enjoyable and well run event. The general atmosphere was friendly and relaxed with good marshalling. The closed road bike course was particularly good for a fast time. I’d recommend it.

I was a marshal on this race, in the running section of it. I really enjoyed cheering the athletes on as they ran through, and it was clear they appreciated the support. The organisers made sure we we equipped with radios and hi-vis jackets- oh, and free food! I'm doing it again next year.

As someone who never normally writes reviews, imagine just how much I disliked being messed around by this company to take the time to type all of this out.

Let me tell you a cautionary tale of frustration and disappointment which might make you think twice before entering an event organised by these fraudsters.

The event in question was the Torquay Triathlon 2022. This was my first triathlon, so it was very disappointing for the event to be cancelled 2 weeks before the event due to "low entries" - I see a similar number of reviews on Trustpilot mention this as their events stated cancellation reason. Cancelling events after the entry fees have arrived and then relentlessly ignoring customers to stem the outflow of refunds seems to be business as usual for toughrunneruk.

And so began in May 2022 my quest to obtain a refund from this truly awful company.

Things looked promising at the start, we had been sent an email with a link to a form with which we could select either 1) Transfer to another race, 2) Store credit or 3) A full refund. I chose a refund. I remember being suspicious of the form as it did not seems to have name or email input fields, nor did it seem to collect email addresses in any other way. Sure enough, about a month later, another email, another form to fill in because the last form "didn’t process the data correctly". Fine, I thought, everyone makes mistakes. I filled in the new form (with my name and email this time) and waited to be contacted to arrange the refund.

After hearing nothing for 6 months, I tried to get in contact. Emails, texts, WhatsApps, phonecalls, voicemails all ignored. My eventual breakthrough was calling Adam Newton's phone with my number set to private. He answered and then was (somewhat) responsive over WhatsApp. It still took over a month at this point to get my refund. I would send reminders, he would promise to look at it, then of course, nothing would happen. It was only threats of writing a poor review (this review) that actually got things moving.

It took over a year but I have my refund now, however you could not pay me to enter another event put on by these jokers.

As an aside: I note that many of the 5 star reviews here are from people who say they have marshalled at these events. That fact and that ten 5 star review all arrived between the 5th and the 7th of April 2023 paints a clear picture of a desperate attempt to harvest positive reviews to offset the anger of all the people that this company has ripped off.

A lovely day volunteering at the Bristol triathlon. It would have been 5 stars but the initial email mentioned being available from 8-12, but the final email said the briefing was at 6:20!! Apart from that, I learnt that runners are friendlier than cyclists, even though they were the same people!!

I have previously ran with Tough Runner in the past and found the event to be well organised, well supported and the route well signposted. Recently, I also helped marshall an event and it was a very rewarding day, seeing so many people enjoying the event and giving something back to the running community ! Would highly recommend getting involved with these events and everyone is super friendly!

I entered the St Ives Triathlon which was cancelled at short notice. I requested a refund of my entrance fee but it's not been paid, despite numerous requests. They don't have a telephone number so I've tried messaging them on their website and emailing them. Most of the time they don't respond but on the one occasion I did get a reply I was ensured by Naomi Curtis my refund would be processed last week. Since then I've not received my refund or any reply to my follow up requests. AVOID USING THIS COMPANY!

I never leave reviews but this is an exception where I feel I must. If you want to throw away your money, might as well do it through Tough Runner. Rest assured, if you pay them money to attend an event, and then it gets cancelled, you will forever remain in debt from them.

I initially signed up for the Edinburgh triathlon 2 years ago (!). Granted, Covid cancelled the first one, but the second one was arranged the following year, but it got cancelled a week before (!) it was meant to take place, due to a "low uptake in numbers".

Ever since I have been chasing for the money that has been stolen from me. Granted it is not cheap either! I paid £90 which I will never see again, just because they cancelled it on their own accord. Any time you try to get in touch with the company, you will be lucky if they even respond. When they do respond, they copy-paste the same generic email saying they do not offer refunds. How do you not offer refunds, when you're the one who cancelled my event?

I wholeheartedly implore you to STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. Don't make the same mistake myself and others have fallen into. I hope to see the day this company goes under, as quite frankly, their abhorrent customer service and lack of any sort of communication is appalling! How this company is allowed to operate is beyond me. There are plenty other competitors out there providing better events.