Edinburgh Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Anita Clementson

The Rock and Roll series of races is well established in the states and these are now being rolled out across other parts. This was the 2nd one in Edinburgh, replacing the previous Chris Hoy / ADT Half Marathon. It sounded fun and I liked the idea of ‘bands on the run’ at each mile point and the end of run music festival.

Anita, goggle-eyed in Edinburgh ... After a sleepless night (got to sleep at 4:30, up at 6:30, the wind outside kept me awake!) with my friend Liz we got our fancy dress sorted out and with fake tattoos applied we headed to McDonald’s for porridge breakfast. We did receive some funny looks and double takes by early morning risers, and street cleaners! It was a bleak morning with the wind and rain lashing, runners were huddled under the nearby Scottish Parliament building for cover. The race started and ended in Holyrood Park, right under Arthur’s Seat. We tried to get cover from the howling winds, it was bloody freezing, portaloos were swaying in the wind and one blew over, a marquee was blown off its hooks and disappeared in the distance.

The race started with pumping music and a staggered start for fast to slow runners which worked really well (5000 runners). I decided I would run in my wig and ‘guitar’ glasses (I did a little run around the windy field and all stayed in place). The route took us out to the coast and looped back again to the city. Unfortunately 4 miles in I had rather a nasty fall (and some nice knee and elbow bruises to show), Luckily I was right near some toilets so I took 5 mins out to check everything over and apart from a few scrapes and bruises all was in order to carry on although the glasses had to go! The race continued with a circular route around Arthur’s seat, the last few miles took us through the various parts of the city, quite undulating and great for seeing Edinburgh. The crowds were really good and encouraging which really helped as my legs were feeling tired after 10 miles (I forgot the dextro tabs). The bands were great too and I found myself looking forward to each mile point for the inspirational beat. At a few points there was a man with a microphone shouting out people’s names, high fiving runners. The last mile was an enjoyable sweeping downhill run onto the Royal Mile and back to the park.

Whoop! Unfortunately things went further downhill at the race end, there’s was no goody bag for your goodies so you were left juggling various and there was huge queues for bags and t-shirts. Due to the horrendous wind the organisers had to take down some marquees, also the end of run festival had to be cancelled. After nearly an hour wait (couldn’t get myself a foil either) finally re-acquainted with bag and Strider hoody, never been so pleased to see it.

But overall this was an enjoyable run, even with the American cheese thrown in. There were people from all over the world we spoke to who had come to it and whom were avid followers of the ‘rock and roll series’ and why not!

My time was 2.15.03 oh! and the medal is rockin outta this world! High five!

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