Events

Overall score		40%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: a quick race with no benifits
In full: Just a few facts;
no energy drinks on course with water every 5k.
no foil blankets at a cold finish line.
a 2 mile walk at the end to the official shuttle bus back to Edinburgh.
A 'goody bag' not worth bothering for. (2 shampoo samples and a muesli bar..)
Date of review: May 28, 2013

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Good PB potential.
In full: This was my first time doing Edinburgh marathon and I generally really enjoyed it. The start was organised with a good atmosphere and the 2 different starts meant it wasn't too congested at the beginning.

The support was very good in places, but also lots of areas where it was very quiet, so had to put my ipod on to keep me motivated.

The scenery was beautiful.

The things which I feel need improving on are:
1) the water bottles didnt have sports caps, which meant they were hard to drink from and sloshed everywhere. You had to chuck the bottle away after a few sips, whereas if it had a sports cap I would have held on to it and sipped as I went along.
2) The mile markers were inaccurate; sometimes up to half a mile compared to my garmin, which was quite demoralising.

I would recommend this marathon, but think I shall stick to big city marathons with more of an atmosphere. I had underestimated how encouraging crowd support can be!!
Date of review: May 28, 2013

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		100%
Atmosphere		40%
Organisation		100%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Fantastic PB potential, if a little boring
In full: A very enjoyable race, impeccably organised. Much less crowded than London, nice and flat, great PB potential! Plentiful water stations, crowd support was excellent in places (particularly the finishing straight) but sparse in others. A really long out and back section from mile 14 onwards was a bit demoralising and boring. The finishing area was really well set up.

Downsides: the walk to the buses at the end was long, at least 20 minutes (difficult on tired legs), but once you got to the buses you were straight on one and being taken back to the city. The goodybag was pretty rubbish. The route, although pretty, is quite boring.

Overall, a very good race which I'd highly recommend.
Date of review: May 28, 2013

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Good for a first marathon, but don't understand why the race finishes 7 miles from the start. The last thing I wanted to be doing after running was sitting in a bus for an hour and a half. They really need to sort out the route.
Date of review: May 28, 2013

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		Maybe
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: A marked improvement on the organisation of the last one of these I did. Decent enough race but maybe a little too hectic for my tastes.
Date of review: May 28, 2013

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Second time at Edinburgh, and will definitely be there again next year. Great support from supporters, organisation / marshalling fantastic and the scenic value is just wonderful , like a holiday coastal run :)
Date of review: May 27, 2013

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Overall score		60%
Would you do it again?		No
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		40%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Probably great for first time half marathoners but a little too commercial
In full: Half course was long. Follows some of the marathon route. Mile markers 13 and 26 were at the same point and the finish was the same for both. This is very strange as a marathon is 26.2 and a half is 13.1, very annoying if you've been pacing yourself properly to find that the finish is longer. Garmin also confirmed this. Probably great race for first timers but more serious club runners are better off finding something closer to home with an accurately measured course.
Date of review: May 27, 2013

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		80%
PB potential		100%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		80%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Life changing.
Date of review: May 27, 2013

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Overall score		100%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		80%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Great experience with very friendly people and a must for any runner
Date of review: May 27, 2013

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Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		40%
PB potential		80%
Atmosphere		60%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Very well organised marathon, made for PB.
In full: It was my first marathon and I will have very good memories as concerned the organisation. The only two small negative points were the goody bag and the lack of isotonic drinks (the preferred gels). A lot of water stations and very helpful race crew. On the other hand the course was outside Edinburgh, it was boring but flat and more friendly for a beginner. If I'll be in UK next year I will do it again.
Date of review: May 27, 2013

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