Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny as is usual for the EMF weekend …. oh no, wait a minute …. sadly the forecast we had been expecting all week looked to be, at least partly, true! A grey, driech day with a strong wind that looked likely to ruin any chances of a PB at the usually fast course.
I parked my car at the Ingliston Park & Ride and took the tram into the City centre, along with a good collection of fellow runners. I was lucky enough to get chatting to a couple of girls from Dundee and we hung out together until we got to our respective starts.
Thankfully the OMNI centre was open, giving us all a fantastic space to hang out in while we went through our (we are not superstitious at all) pre-race preparations …. how lovely to be able to use clean toilets with no queues!!
It was funny watching everyone trying to decide on what they would need to wear as we all kept a weather eye through the big windows … not helped at all by a nice lady going round with a roll of bin bags asking if anyone needed one!!
In the end, as we watched the clouds blowing away, most of us opted to put our waterproofs back in our bags and go with vests/tshirts and a bin bag.
For the first time at Edinburgh I was starting on London Road and I found it a lot less crowded than being up on Regent Road, but also a lot more relaxed as the bulk of the runners are in the speedy and experienced bracket …
Sadly the only thing letting this start point down was a real lack of toilet facilities, something you really don’t expect at a marathon of this size. I have it on good authority that there were plenty up the hill at Regent Road!
So, my wave point was right at the back of the pack and I was able to get away with out too much fuss when the hooter finally went and once I had ditched my gash t-shirt I was off and running.
The course at Edinburgh is fairly flat, starting in the city, heading out through some residential streets to Portobello, Prestonpans and out past Musselburgh, before turning around and heading back into Musselburgh and finishing at Pinkie Park. Predominantly you are running along the coast and there are some lovely views, there are some undulations along the road, but nothing that you could really call a hill. The support was great this year, it is always good but I definitely think there were more people along the whole of the route and at the parts where supporters can’t get to you are seeing runners on their return leg so there is plenty of opportunity for cheering each other on!
I was lucky enough to see everyone I knew was running and was very happy to get a big up from fellow MRR’s Doug & Fiona Hamilton who were running the marathon having completed both the 5K & 10K the previous day, well done you guys that is an impressive effort!!
The weather really did change from the forecast and we were lucky enough to see not only blue sky but sun as well … unfortunately the wind part of the forecast held true and we were subjected to a strong headwind all the way back along the return leg to the finish .. even the elite guys looked like the were struggling with it … still, living in the North East means I’m used to it and I was able to put my head down and try to push through.
Unlike my first attempt at Edinburgh I made it well past my previous ‘wall’ point and made it to 20miles in under 3 hours … sadly I couldn’t keep the pace up and slowed in the final 10K, the wind was an issue but I was determined to keep it going … and go I did, finally rounding into Pinkie Park and the finish line still showing a 3 on my Garmin rather than a 4 … I didn’t quite bound up the finish ramp, but with a smile I crossed the line with an official time of 3hours54minutes … despite everything, a new PB!
A happy moment tinged with emotion for me.
Once you are through the finish at Edinburgh and have collected your medal .. a good one this year .. and goodie bag it can be a bit of a choke point trying to get through friends & family waiting on their runners to the baggage lorries, but I made it through, picked up my bag and found myself a wee sheltered spot behind the lorries to get sorted out …. and then I headed for the coffee 🙂
All in all I had a good run, I do love Edinburgh and despite all the issues folk seem to have with it, I think it is well organised and it is a good course …. marathon No. 5 is in the bag!!
MRR Results
Gerry Evans – 3:24:35
Karen Norvell – 3:54:21
Douglas Hamilton – 5:13:05
Fiona Hamilton – 5:14:37
Report by: Karen Norvell