Edinburgh MarathonHere's how RW members rated this race (1532 votes). 2013 race reviewed by: Striker JC
 | | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Well organised, fast and enjoyable
In full: Well supported with a fast route. It actually has a slight rolling feel (instead of being purely flat) but is still a very good place for a PB.
Most of it isn't in Edinburgh but it's well supported anyway. Personally I'd love it to finish running up the Royal Mile to finish by the castle; but the climb would be a bit brutal!
It really is a full mile's walk to the shuttle buses after the finish but at least you can shower and rest first, and to be fair there were plenty of buses running. I'd like a "400m to go" sign near the finish but the mile markers were clear and there were plenty of drinks stations (and toilets at the start) so no real complaints.
I've signed up to run the Bournemouth Marathon in October which seems to be the same organising group. If it goes as well as this one I'll be happy!
Overall this and Brighton seem to be vying for 2nd place after London in UK big city marathons. Both are good but this just gets my vote for being better value (i.e. not feeling like a rip-off!)
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: claire watt 2
| | Overall score | | 60% | | Would you do it again? | | Maybe | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 60% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 40% | | Value | | 40% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Has the potential to be a great race, but needs some organisational improvements.
In full: Fast and flat, but slightly boring on the long stretch out and back of East Lothian. Organisation in general was very good, but the end was poor - couldn't see event staff and signage was extremely poor. Took me 30 mins to find my family as there was no signage, or event staff and the police wandering around didn't know where anything was and sent me to look for an event staff member. Walking round in circles after 26.2 was a bit of a dampener on the event. On a less important note, my 'small' t-shirt was the same size as my partners 'XL', and my partner who ran the half marathon a few hours earlier, was handed a bag with the marathon t-shirt at the end. Needless to say, this could be a great race, but needs some organisational tweaks!
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Whipstall
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Picturesque, well-organised and fast
In full: I've seen a number of criticisms levied at this year's Edinburgh half marathon, some of which I think are justified but many of which are not and, as we have to look at the overall package, I think the organisers did a pretty good job on the whole.
First, the distance: according to my Garmin the race was smack on. I was consciously running tangents, which many were not, since in the early stages of the race this involves accelerating aggressively to overtake other runners in often congested sections of the route. Merely going with the flow will easily add another 0.1 miles to your run (i.e.161 metres).
Second, refreshments: this is always a matter of personal preference and you will never satisfy everyone. I cannot personally understand the need for gels or sports drinks for a half marathon, but gels were available at the last two stations (only one which was officially going to carry gels according to the briefing). The water bottles would have benefitted from sports tops, but this wasn't a big deal for me.
Transport: My own situation was probably unusual in that a training injury (torn soleus) recurred at 19k and, being bloody minded, I hobbled the last 2k on one working leg. You can probably imagine what I thought when I found out that my transit bus back was more than a mile away from the finish line!
Facilities: toilets at the start were inadequate for the size of field. I queued for over 30 minutes and just made the start (which was 1 minute early - not helpful). Many behind me had queued for almost as long with a choice between starting late or crossing their legs.
The positives: Edinburgh has a great combination of "big event feel" without being too big. The course is scenic, fast and flat and the organisation is generally very good. The local support is excellent, the marshals were great and it's definitely in my calendar for next year.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: kellyd2
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: Great Flat Marathon
In full: A good race route which is flat and so has very good pb potential. Well supported race. If I had to make one criticsm it would be the Start/Finish area could have been a little better organised in terms of signage. But that didnt take away from the main thing which is the run, which was great.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: elle.
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 80% | | Organisation | | 100% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Loved it - possibly my favourite ever half
In full: Great event and I've already signed up for next year. Loved the route, especially the stretch along Portobello. I thought the organisation was excellent, including the buses back into the centre of Edinburgh - I didn't mind the walk at all (might have felt differently if I'd done the full though I guess). Not sure why RW don't separate out the reviews for the half and the full. Would definitely recommend.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Michelle Vaughan
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Really fast scenic race
In full: I really loved this race and knocked 8+ minutes off my PB! However, where the race let itself down is the mile walk to get a bus (not what you need after racing) and the poor publishing of the results. To date (3 days after the race), I still cannot get the full results - ie where I came out of the females, V40s etc - which is inexcusable. This needs sorting out for future years! However, that aside I would recommend to anyone wanting to bag a PB or run the distance for the first time!
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: ANDY PEACOCK 3
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: Nice run out use public transport back to start
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Dan Schindler 2
| | Overall score | | 100% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 100% | | PB potential | | 80% | | Atmosphere | | 100% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 60% |
In full: This was my first marathon race, which I enjoyed very much!!
The only negative point to mention was the transport back to Ed, could not see any signs anywhere,I ended up walking up the other direction and took a public transport back for £1.50! silly ass.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Condor
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 80% | | Value | | 60% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 100% |
In short: A fast course though could be a bit boring for regular marathoners
In full: A PB potential race with a net downhill for the first 5 then pretty much flat the rest of the way. 6 miles and you're out of Edinburgh though.
Crowd support is good but sparse in places.
Goody bag at the end very lacking, 2 shampoo's, a cooling gel and a cereal bar. Nicely designed technical T-shirt.
Start area well organised with 2 staggered starts so less chance of bottlenecks.
Finish area well outside Edinburgh so logistics getting back from the race are difficult and can be time consuming depending on your option.
2nd time doing EMF and I'll do it again next year chasing another PB but I'm a resident which makes it easier.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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2013 race reviewed by: Chris Price 16
| | Overall score | | 80% | | Would you do it again? | | Yes | | | | Details: | | Scenery | | 80% | | PB potential | | 100% | | Atmosphere | | 60% | | Organisation | | 60% | | Value | | 80% | | Beginner-friendliness | | 80% |
In short: A very pleasant course in a very impressive City. Add it to your list.
Date of review: May 28, 2013
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