Where Edinburgh
When May 6, 2007
First Man Hosea Macharinyang 29:14
First Woman Jo Pavey 32:57
Last Finisher 1:49:29
First Woman 6,674
The Edinburgh edition of the Great Run series is a hilly 10K through many of the city’s elegant streets and up and down a fair few of its most demanding hills, including Arthur’s Seat.
The organisation, as you’d expect, was slick, with four waves of starters this year to improve congestion. However, no amount of forward planning could have predicted the howling winds that made conditions tough for competitors and organisers alike.
An absence of kilometre markers, probably taken down for safety reasons when the wind picked up, made pacing a little tricky even after the fast downhill start had tempted some optimistic runners to dream of a personal best.
Any hopes of fast times soon went the same way as the kilometre markers, but the scenery and supporters kept runners going the length of the challenging course.
Runners were also treated to the proverbial four seasons in one day as they experienced rain at the start, wind and warm weather during the race, and hail at the finish.
Some runners felt the course was a touch over 10K, but that just meant the fun lasted a little longer.
