Anyone planning to do Edinburgh Marathon 2012?

Dilbert75 · 31-12-2011 11:51PM #1

Looks like myself, de Missus and my two brothers and their wives are likely to take this on. It'll be a first for 5 of us, though my missus has 10 halves under her belt.

Just hoping that 2012 does without the weather extremes of the last few years, plus the hassle at the finish of 2011.

Git101 · 01-01-2012 01:37AM

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Looks like myself, de Missus and my two brothers and their wives are likely to take this on. It'll be a first for 5 of us, though my missus has 10 halves under her belt.

Just hoping that 2012 does without the weather extremes of the last few years, plus the hassle at the finish of 2011.

I did it in 2010 & 2011, not sure if I'll make it this year.

As far as I know they have changed the finish for this years race.

It's a handy course, unless it's blowing a gale on the day (2011) or baking hot, 25c+ (2010) :eek:

I enjoyed the out and back nature of the course and found the event to be generally well organised.

Oisin11178 · 01-01-2012 08:30PM

Did it in 2010. Negative and positives for me. Excellent 2 pronged start that eliminated congestion. Nice fast course with net downhill.
Its prone to extreme weather like brutal wind last year and extreme heat the year before.
Glad to hear that the finish is being moved, it took me over 2 hours to get out of there.

gaf1983 · 14-05-2012 02:37PM

Yeah, doing it in 2 weeks' time, looking forward to it, did my longest run - a 20 miler - on Saturday over Woodcock Hill just outside Limerick, it has a serious gradient and it was quite warm so hopefullly I'm prepared for a flatter route in Scotland!

Dilbert75 · 14-05-2012 11:00PM

Likewise - heading over on Friday morning, back on Monday - assuming I can still walk!

gaf1983 · 29-05-2012 10:56AM

Did it, found it very tough going in that heat, clocked in a PW of 4'17"25, delighted to have finished it to be honest - turns out I have what's known as bursitis in my hip joint, that flared up at Mile 14, also had a bad flu over the weekend, first time taking panadol and motilium before a race, hopefully it will be my last time resorting to those measures. Was just delighted to finally cross the finish line to be honest.

The support along the route was great, my Edinburgh souvenir baseball cap turned out to be essential, a lot of people really struggled with the heat - even the winners posted slowish times compared to what you'd expect with such a big field.

The organisation at the end left a bit to be desired - there was no designated meeting point for runners and spectators at the end, it was left up to the local radio station to try and reunite runners with their friends and families, while the mile and a half walk back to the shuttle buses (we finished 10 miles outside the city centre) was quite tough to be honest.

It was a very flat course, apart from the problems at the end I'd recommend the race, though as far as I know last year it was done in very windy conditions last year, and the previous two years it was as hot if not hotter than last year.

Dilbert75 · 29-05-2012 10:45PM

Well done - that was very good going, particularly under the circumstances.

I survived it in 4:58 and my wife finished strongly in 3:43 (both our first full marathons). I was going quite strongly until about 25k, when I really started to run out of steam (as opposed to hitting the wall) - I just hadn't trained enough to keep going non-stop. From then on, I had to fall back onto a walk/run strategy to get me around. Got chatting to a couple of people for a while, so that helped and stayed running constantly for the last 6k to get over the line. In doing so, I passed dozens of people who were just walking to get over the line, as well as quite a few who'd stopped with cramp, exhaustion, etc. and a handfull that were being attended by paramedics. Were it not for the many people along the way handing out drinks, sweets, etc. & spraying hoses over runners, there would have been many more in trouble.

On the up-side, I managed to escape with only one blister (which was there before I set off on Sunday morning) and with almost no sunburn.

In general I thought the organisation was pretty good for the weekend - apart from the fact that they didn't have our numbers for the international breakfast run on the Saturday morning, so I ended up being Jurgen and my wife became Ilona for an hour!:eek:

In relation to the finish, there actually was a series of meeting points after the paddock exit (admittedly not brilliantly sign-posted but present nonetheless) and they were referenced in the final details pack. We'd arranged which one to meet our family at and it worked well.

The walk to the shuttle bus was long & torturous - we got just over half way there and realised that the normal service bus back to where we were staying was closer to us so we went and got it - and it only cost £1.40 each to get back to Murrayfield, compared to £3.50 each we'd already paid for the shuttle bus and we'd have had to pay the £1.40 anyway to get from town back to the house. But that's not the biggest deal in the world I guess.

It's not put us off in any case - we're looking at Dublin in October as the next target.:rolleyes:

corkrunner71 · 30-05-2012 10:08AM

Well done to all of ye. Can imagine how tough it was in that heat.

upthe19th · 03-06-2012 08:55AM

Well done to ye all.

Well you've one more than me now anyway.

I know you were apprehensive, like myself, about the distance after the wexford half.

Are you doing the strawberry half?

Dilbert75 · 03-06-2012 08:31PM

upthe19th wrote: »

Well done to ye all.

Well you've one more than me now anyway.

I know you were apprehensive, like myself, about the distance after the wexford half.

Are you doing the strawberry half?

Not going to do the Strawberry half this year - taking the "1 day recovery per mile" rule of thumb quite seriously. I'll probably get back gently running this week coming but nothing strenuous. Might go for a look and a cheer though - you participating? I've also volunteered to help at the Viking marathon the week after in Waterford, so no racing planned before that.

upthe19th · 07-06-2012 08:12PM

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Not going to do the Strawberry half this year - taking the "1 day recovery per mile" rule of thumb quite seriously. I'll probably get back gently running this week coming but nothing strenuous. Might go for a look and a cheer though - you participating? I've also volunteered to help at the Viking marathon the week after in Waterford, so no racing planned before that.

Sensible thinking. Resting the body is important. I'll be in enniscorthy alright. hoping to knock a bit off my wexford time...we'll see.

Anyone planning to do Edinburgh Marathon 2012?

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