Edinburgh MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race (1467 votes). 2010 race reviewed by: julieflies
 | | Overall score | | 20% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Where was the city and the mile markers?
In full: My 3rd marathon.
Having read all the hype on it being fastest uk route I saved myself in London pinning my hopes on a pb here.
The late start left us all open to long period of time running in the midday sun. Lack of decent or any mile markets at points made pacing difficult to those not owning a garmin/similar. Relay runners either pushing past you or stopping right in front of you was just annoying especially when the heat was taking it's toll towards the end.
No half way marker not even a balloon! Relay area had big overhead banners surely the marathoners needed the indicators of distance more!
Water plenty but too far apart at times.
Supporters were the best part of it lovely people kids fab hoses out to help were organisers failed to deliver.
Running route could have been anywhere, let's see more of the city and bring the finish back in, or as close as without having to climb stairs to cross finish line.
Finishing surface! Who's practical joke idea was that? Finish area, let's cram thousands of people through a tiny gate after running 26.2 miles then make them walk to the farthest corner before they can get their bag! Buses where were they after all the walking to get bags had to walk a further 3 miles to pay again for public bus!
Best bit was medal (hardest earnt one in my small collection) very lively and t shirt great, organisers sort out the rest keep these two bits constant and this could be a great marathon!!
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: lisa manning 2
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 20% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: fab experience but post race not good
In full: good start, easy to drop my bag & get into place.
heat aside the run was great :-) on a colder day then the organisation was pretty much ok... but having to rely on locals and kids to provide water showers was v shortsighted.
Afterwards, gosh it took me longer to walk to the charity tents / baggage than it did to run the last couple of miles!!! Too far.
Finally the bus was a nightmare... we left the baggage area, waited in the long queue for the bus. Buses came past. Full buses came past. Empty buses came past without stopping. Were we in the right place? Who knows as there wasn't a marshall in sight. More buses passing. We walked further up and managed to get on a bus, only to find that along with all the other runners on the bus we had to pay - and THANKYOU to a lovely woman runner who payed for us as the driver wouldn't accept the only money (a £20 note we had on us)
More passing of lots of other queues of runners still waiting :-(
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Steven Brough
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Just need to sort the finish area out.
In full: Suggestions for improvements...
Move the start to Princes St. That would be a memorable experience and reduce some of the complaints about not enough of the city centre being included in the route.
Persuade the Racecourse management to allow the use of the vast acres available for the reunion area.
FIND SOMEWHERE CLOSER THAN 1.6 MILES FROM THE FINISH(as measured on Google Earth)FOR THE SHUTTLE BUSES!
Provide some run-through showers. (The locals' efforts were very welcome and well meaning, but some of them didn't quite grasp the difference between a pleasant cooling mist and a deluge!)
Start an hour earlier.
Otherwise, a wonderful event. Excellent medal and a high quality T shirt.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: WR
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Enjoyable race
In full: Enjoyed this race this year again, and once again it was another warm day.
Agree with others regarding the relay runners, they could do with learning some marathon etiquette!
Could have started the marathon at 8am, would have been better!
Will be back again next year.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: sunil dutt
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 60% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: great experience. the crowd helped us all with the sweltering weather conditions. you do not see much of edinburgh city centre itself but the coast line view is lovely.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: brashers
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: A good race let down by poor organisation
In full: What can I say that has not already been said!
I feel that the race organisers bit off more than they could chew.
Having relay runners on the course did not work for me, got tripped up twice,(both times by relay runners darting in and out!) but managed to stay upright, they did not seem to appreciate that people around them were runnning a lot further than them!
Race start too late for the marathon, seems more sensible to have it the other way round.
The problems at the finish with congestion and a long walk to reunion areas, buses etc was the real let down of this marathon.
I would have liked a finish in the city centre
Lack of water stations in the later stages.
Marshals seemed in short supply, especially later on in the race.
On a positive note I thought the two starts worked well. Only a short walk took me to the start line, not like the Birmingham Half where it was 20 minutes!
Fantastic atmosphere and great crowds with fabulous local support, no problems with my goody bag, nice t-shirt and medal.
This race has potential to be great and I really feel Edinburgh is a great City to have a Marathon in but the organisers have some serious work to do.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Plissken
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: A race with great potential - but still a couple of major flaws
In full: This is the second time I have run the Edinburgh Marathon and I definitely did notice improvements, particularly at the start. The course itself is not particularly scenic, and I think they quite rightly try to sell the race on its PB potential. One of the two major flaws is at the finish - transport to and from Musselburgh still needs sorting out. IMO, the second major flaw is that if they want to hold a marathon this late in the year with the present course, which is very exposed, 10am is too late a start time. I would prefer a late April date - I am not sure I will run this again toward the end of May. As it is, I ran strongly for 30K but then deliberately eased off because I did not want to join the host of collapsed runners along the final third of the route. Still sneaked a PB which is testament to the speed of the course, but I reckon I could have done 10 minutes faster on a cooler day.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: ElbowBones
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: A great race in a great city - only problem was the unseasonal heat!
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: John Webber 3
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Although very hot, the race was well organised and very friendly. Recommended.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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2010 race reviewed by: Jaylo
| | Overall score | | 40% | | Would you do it again? | | No | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 40% | | PB potential | | 40% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In short: Marathon
In full: Won't go on to repeat many of the negative comments already posted as I experienced many. I could have cried when I finally got back to my hotel and opened my t-shirt to find I had been tossed off with a relay t-shirt! I endured 26.2 miles in that devastating heat, taking over an hour longer than I had anticipated for a left over relay t-shirt! In one fell swoop they made my mammoth effort feel worthless and wish I had never bothered!
I too have done London and found the organisation outstanding. There was a distinct lack of marshalls on some very lengthy parts of the route and 3 miles between drink stations need to be shortened.
I too found the trail to the shuttle buses horrendous - there was no-one helping direct people onto the buses, no-one seemed to know where they were and were arguing with the normal service bus drivers as they couldn't get on with their ticket numbers. By the time I got to them and sat on the bus I felt ill. The journey was not over - I realised they were dropping us back off at the start - sick sense of humour I thought - my hubby had thought we would be dropped at Princess Street as others were - they were the service buses - wish I'd got one as I then had another 25min walk to the hotel.
Support from locals - fantastic and other fellow runners - fantastic.
Edinburgh - Fantastic I will be back as a tourist - I have vowed never to return as a runner!
They will never make this a world class marathon if they don't take note of the feedback which they have clearly had before.
Date of review: May 25, 2010
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