Serpie Planner - event reports

Edinburgh Marathon (26 Sep 1999)

"Sundance" Evans had decided not to make the intrusion over the border: perhaps he had watched Braveheart and seen what William Wallace had done to the marauding English. Instead I travelled with one of the original SexyLikraKittens (OzKitten) to Edinburgh to run in the Marathon last Sunday!



Having arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday morning, OzKitten and I collected our race numbers and then decided to visit Edinburgh Castle where we had a purrfect (sorry couldn

Edinburgh Marathon (12 Jun 2005)

A few Serpies - who I am sorry I can only name a few..... Isla , Sarah Nasson, Eric, Gordon and a few more familiar faces...ran in the Edinburgh marathon on Sunday 12th June.

The weather was brass monkeys to start with, even the obligitory 'value bin bags' weren't keeping the rain and cold out, then as the race progressed it became really quite hot, esp trudging up the hill from 21-24, a bit thrown off track with no 23m marker, esp as the heat was quite intense! There were hills pretty much throughout, but none too overbearing. The crowds were relatively tame en-route, although a few locals sprayed the runners with hoses in some of the gardens when it was just too hot! The support at the finish though was great. I would def recommend it.
report by Louisa Ruderman

The Bad:- The entry fee was expensive, the Expo laughable and the toilets and baggage at the beginning of the race a riot. The kit bags were half the size they should have been especially considering the chances of inclement
weather and people who had travelled a long way to run in this event.

Also basic things like having a baggage tent drop off that can only accommodate 4 or 5 people at a time & placing the portaloos(all 10 of them) along the start line showed a bizarre lack of forethought.

The organisation at the finish could have been better - queueing for medals, no photo's, waiting in line for kit bags whilst we got very very wet, people fighting over foil blankets which were just dumped on the ground rather then being handed to us, & my heart went out to the poor girl removing the chip tags - I bet her legs were feeling worse then mine the next day.

Delay in availability of results is inexcusable. I'm sure that this was entirely related to the fact that the Edinburgh Evening News is one of the main sponsors and they had a results supplement with the Tuesday edition.

The Good:- I liked the course. It wasn't flat, but wouldn't that be a bit dull? At the same time it wasn't mountainous either so respectable times were certainly possible. Unlike some other people I liked the 'contra-flows' (you got to see some runners head on!), and the long bit by the sea. I think the atmosphere was good and there was some nice encouragement from the locals towards the end. Water in squirty bottles and Lucozade was welcome & the potential of a pb is huge, with the four Serpie runners who I know that run in this race all managed a pb.

Given that the Edinburgh Marathon is only 3 three years old The organisers quite rightly want to make this a world-class race, as befits any capital city. With that in mind I am sure this event will get bigger & better as they gain more experience.

www.edinburgh-marathon.co.uk/uk

Race Report : Dean Wheeler

Edinburgh Marathon (11 Jun 2006)

Would really recommend this race, especially for a first timer marathoner: easy to get into and up there, scenic, well organised, relatively flat. Great start by the gardens in Princes Street (could have been more loos but that\'s usually the case) and fab finish in Holyrood Park despite the uphill sections just before it.

Importantly there was plenty of room to run your own race (though apparently loads of people didn\'t actually turn up due to the heat? maybe they were the sensible ones). Also a good number of water and energy stations offering various flavours, and a few people offering jelly babies :)

Spectators were thin on the ground in the middle section through an industrial estate but the spectacular coastal views before balanced that out. The householders with hosepipes as we got back into town under the midday sun were angels!

Couple of niggles

- It seemed like some of the mile markers were a bit erratic, especially in the late teens.
- There was a relay happening at the same time but even though those runners had stickers on their backs it\'s still a bit demoralizing to be passed by super-fresh people. Some of them then slowed down to walking along in the middle of the course. The enthusiastic marshals did a great job but it would be better if the relay runners stayed to one side.

NB. The Expo at Ocean Terminal was quite far out from the city centre so allow plenty of time to pick up your number.

Report by Sarah Appleby.

Edinburgh Marathon (25 May 2008)

Never the fastest course because of the strong winds along the coast, this year's race had conditions as good as can be expected and a lot more Serpies than in previous years. Due to tram track road works the start was further out the centre than before and only the first few miles were in Edinburgh. It then follows the coast with sporadic support. But the support is enthusiastic and the atmosphere is enhanced by the Hairy Haggis 4-Stage Relay which is run in tandem.

It's a relief to turn at 18 miles and have the wind helping for the remaining miles. It's also fun to see the runners coming from the other direction with both sides shouting encouragement to each other.

Race report by Ian Sharman