Edinburgh Marathon 2010

RacoonQueen

Anyone planning on going for this? Just got an email from them about entry for 2010, having missed out with injury this year I'm tempted, that being said I was planning on not running any Spring marathons in 2010 and giving myself a bit of a break. To those who've run it, would you recommend it? Still waiting on confirmation for London aswell so don't want to pay out for Edinburgh again if I chicken out 'cos it's so close to London.

Slogger Jogger

I'd recommend it, but then again I was fortunate enough to run a PB there in June. It was warm but so you take your chances with the weather and many of the June marathons were warm. Course is fast. Heads out along the coast before doubling back and finishing at Musselborough racecourse.

rigal

Got that email myself and it's got me thinking. I'm in the ballot for London but if I don't get in I'd consider doing Edinburgh again.

I'd recommend it and as SJ says the route is flat and fast. Plus Edinburgh is a cool city to spend a few days in IMO..

RacoonQueen

rigal wrote: »

I'd recommend it and as SJ says the route is flat and fast. Plus Edinburgh is a cool city to spend a few days in IMO..

Yeah, been there done that. By the time I got injured this year everything was already booked etc so I ended up going to Edinburgh anyway. Depression from missing out, pain from injury + illness from heat = crap weekend.

Thing about summer marathons is always going to be the heat, then it could be roasting hot for Dublin aswell given the erratic Irish weather.

Ruarl Runner

Hello RQ!! I did this marathon in June, (actually I did miles 1-21 before disaster struck ). I would recommend doing this at least once, only negative for me was the heat!! Although I have to admit it was the first time I have ever seen the sun in Edinburgh :eek:!!!
Like Rigal and yourself I am awaiting correspondence from London. If I don't get London then looks like my spring/summer marathon will be a choice of Connemara, Belfast, or Edinburgh!!!

kingQuez

This was my marathon in 2009 and I really enjoyed it. My only minor grip was the mile markers were a bit easy to miss at certain points.

The course was brilliant, except for mile 20 when you ended up offroad for a mile. Before I went over I didn't realize how fast the course heads out of edinburgh -- most of the route is in the suburbs/ruralish area. There's a nice breeze off the sea during the second half of the run (a long out and back closed road), but if the weather turned nasty that could come back to bite you.

If I hadn't decided to aim for a marathon later next year (looking like berlin) I'd probably try to hit Edinburgh again. Its definitely going to show up on my list in the next couple of years again.

Krusty_Clown

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten that I had entered the London ballot.
I had already been making plans for the Seville marathon in February and the Two Oceans ultra in April.
So many races, so little time. Edinburgh will have to wait, but I agree on the city. A great spot for a weekend away.

village runner

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I'd recommend it, but then again I was fortunate enough to run a PB there in June. It was warm but so you take your chances with the weather and many of the June marathons were warm. Course is fast. Heads out along the coast before doubling back and finishing at Musselborough racecourse.

Where did you stay ? Assuming i dont get into London I might give this ago. I have done rotterdam and paris so it would be different.

A pb would be worth its weight in gold.

RacoonQueen

To anyone who wants to run this but hasn't entered yet gsi2010 will give you a £35 discount according to an email I've just received.

Slogger Jogger

village runner wrote: »

Where did you stay ? Assuming i dont get into London I might give this ago. I have done rotterdam and paris so it would be different.

A pb would be worth its weight in gold.

Howdy. I went over with the clan and we stayed at the Jurys Inn in Edinburgh which was a 5 min walk from the hotel where they handed out the registration and from the start line. Its also convenient to the Royal Mile which is the heart of historic Edinburgh. Can't remember the cost offhand but it was okay for what you got. If you can avoid dropping gel bottles and having to pick them up (twice) you might close the time gap on your Gowran colleague

belcarra

RacoonQueen wrote: »

To anyone who wants to run this but hasn't entered yet gsi2010 will give you a £35 discount according to an email I've just received.

Hey RQ, I think I just got the same email as you.
However, it was fairly jumbled and although it looked like £35 discount I think the 3 belongs to the coding in the email. Basically, I logged on for a look and when I entered the code for registration it appears it was only worth £5 discount:-(
I had no real plans to run this but if the voucher meant I could get entry for £10 (Based on £35 discount!) then I would have seriously considered it. Alas, 'twas not to be!

RacoonQueen

I thought 35 was an awful lot alright. :pac:

flying_scotsman

3 stars (average)

I'm signed up and raring to go! Having studied there for 4 years I thought what better place to do my first marathon. Training proper starts in January, for the moment I'm focussing on xc and 5-10k road races. I can only assume that the hot weather last year was a once off, like Ireland we have about 3-4 good weather days per year! If you can get past all of the tourist traps and Scottish tweeness then Edinburgh truly is a fantastic place to spend some time

chinguetti

Why didn't they offer the discount to people to sign up before a certain date or for the first 1,500 who signed up. Looks like they are trying to fill it before Christmas.

Signed up there a month ago. The plan starts on 1st February but going to do a fair bit of speed work over the holidays and January.

Edinburgh's a fine place alright. As for the weather, once its not windy i'll be happy.

actwithoutwords

I'm signed up to this too. Long time away, but should be fun. Edinburgh is a great oul place, and two of my best friends are living there at the moment.
I'd say it must be difficult to rein in one's pace over the first few downhill miles. I have a tendency to get carried away at the start at the best of times.

eliwallach

flying_scotsman wrote: »

I can only assume that the hot weather last year was a once off, like Ireland we have about 3-4 good weather days per year!

That is true, but the one fantastic weekend we get every year has fallen on the weekend of the Cork City Marathon.
Surely this year the CCM can expect cloudy, cool, mild and possibly wet conditions? :rolleyes:

rigal

Just entered this - did it last year as well. Hope the weather is good to us this time round!

RacoonQueen

Booked my flights the other night for 80 euro, I'm only planning on doing Friday to Sunday seeing as I stayed in Edinburgh last year for the whole weekend. So whoever wants to get drunk with me between the end of the race and my flight home is more than welcome to join us in the city centre where we will be getting hammered anyway.

Git101

3 stars (average)

RacoonQueen wrote: »

So whoever wants to get drunk with me between the end of the race and my flight home is more than welcome to join us in the city centre where we will be getting hammered anyway.

All going well myself and aero2k should be there. I suspect that a pint or two may be had after the race

aero2k

Git101 wrote: »

All going well myself and aero2k should be there. I suspect that a pint or two may be had after the race

I'll be there, for the race and a pint or two...just need to finalise the travel arrangements.

rovers_runner

With the price of flights to Barcelona and the fact there is only really 7/8 weeks after Christmas for me to "prepare" for it I'm on the brink of entering Edinburgh.

I've seen on the site they expect it to be almost full by now so will press ahead and enter. Will be nice to do a marathon in good weather i.e. above 10 degrees too.

Oisin11178

4 stars (good)

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Booked my flights the other night for 80 euro, I'm only planning on doing Friday to Sunday seeing as I stayed in Edinburgh last year for the whole weekend. So whoever wants to get drunk with me between the end of the race and my flight home is more than welcome to join us in the city centre where we will be getting hammered anyway.

I payed 80 blips for my flights on those days to. We must be on the smae flights:D
Are you stalking me:P
Drinking is a deffo. Im going over with my m8 ken, kandikane on boards. Hes a mild alcoholic so drinking is a deffo:D

RacoonQueen

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Are you stalking me:P

Sussed. :pac:

Rovers I've been putting off booking my Barca flights, then I was flicking through my emails the other night and saw one from Aer Lingus from about 3 weeks ago were flights to Barca were 50% off for those dates if you booked over a certain two days. Lesson learnt? read emails.

rovers_runner

Agreed RQ, it can be hit and miss as you only have on direct flight to the city. They will prob have an offer again though. Lookin forward to May now.

Blueskye

Yay flights booked for Edinburgh. Going to take a few days either side for an extended long weekend.

TakeaBowSon

Howya All,

First time poster - long time lurker! Booked Edinburgh over the weekend. Second marathon (after DCM 09) - looking forward to it. Any suggestions on hotels? Theres going to be 3 or 4 of us.

Cheers
T

chinguetti

Booked the Hudson Hotel last week for myself after 2 hours of searching. Looked like most of the lower/mid range rooms were gone at that stage but if you go a few miles out, you might get a good rate. Tripadvisor might help ya out.

TakeaBowSon

cheers chinguetti

I'll have a look at that Hotel.

Thanks again

rigal

I ran Edinburgh last year and four of us (two couples) rented an apartment beside Princes St. The race start was a 10 minute walk from the apartment.

The website I used was www.edlets.com

The apartment worked out a fair bit cheaper than a central hotel as we were staying for three nights. It's also good if you want to cook for yourself and watch a few dvds etc the night before.

If anyone wants the apartment details pm me. It's just myself and the OH going this year and we're staying with friends so won't be booking it.

TakeaBowSon

Cheers Rigal, much appreciated

rigal

I know it's early days but has anyone started thinking about target times for this yet?

Assuming I can get by injury free I'm hoping to beat my pb of 3:26:47 but would be happy enough with sub 3:30.

I see there are no pace groups again this year - pity.

TakeaBowSon

Hoping to break 3.30 myself aswell...DCM 09 was just under 4 but I was on for under 3.30 with 5 miles to go until I hit the great wall of china!

chinguetti

I'm also planning for under 3.30 as did 3.30 and a few seconds in Cork last year. If its a cool day and a bit of luck on keeping away with injuries and training goes ok, i hope to do it

Maybe closer to the time we could think and see if it would be worthwhile meeting up the evening before and see if we run together on the day? Just a suggestion i'm throwing out there as i've 2 weeks before my plan kicks off.

rigal

Sounds like a good idea chinguetti. Fingers crossed training goes well for all of us.

What plan are you going to follow? I reckon I'll do the P&D 12 wk/ 55 miles plan, starting next month. It served me well last Autumn and even though I'm in poor shape now I reckon I'll stick with it.

chinguetti

Using the website run republic 3.30 hr plan as a base and then changing it to suit my needs. I find i need to race every three weeks or so to know how i am going in training as i train on my own mainly.

Used their 4 hr plan last year for Cork and found it good and as i ran 3.30. However i did no speed work last year so plan to do a bit this time around.

actwithoutwords

18 weeks from today methinks?

Sub 3.45 is my goal anyway. I don't think I'll be joining the ranks of ye breaking 3.30. It's a bit too soon for me I think, despite the fast course.
Long way to go anyway. Really should probably book flights etc though. At least I'm staying with friends so accomodation isn't a problem. I was there over New Year as well as it happens. The place looked lovely in the snow. Was looking forward to getting a couple of runs in*, but the ice put paid to that unfortunately.


*To work off all the booze, if nothing else.

aero2k

Some no tax flights available on Ryanair if you can stay an extra day or two each side. You can get short let apartments if there's a group of you: see edlets.com.
Edinburgh is a nice city to pass a few days.

I have no connection to edlets or Ryanair, just used them for my arrangements.

rigal

Howdy y'all,

I'm pulling out as not in decent enough shape to start a marathon plan at the moment.

Best of luck to everyone with their training plans... look forward to reading the race reports on here come end of May.

rigal

chinguetti

Thats a shame Rigal but hope that the running goes well for you whatever you go for later in the year.

TakeaBowSon

All the best Rigal!

central park

Sorry to hear youre pulling out Rigal. How is training going for the rest of you? Any words of wisdom from anyone who has done this before? My daughter has started studying in Edinburgh so its a great excuse for me to visit! The weather last year was very hot, hopefully it will be cooler this year.

rigal

It's a great course and definitely one for a pb if you have trained well and conditions are ok.

This is an obvious tip but the first mile or so is down hill so make sure you're well warmed up before hand as I found my quads were aching early on in the race last year.

Be aware that miles 17-18 are on trails/paths around the grounds of Gosford House. This was a welcome change of scenary during the race but the grounds are sheltered from the breeze and the change in terrain can be a shock to tired legs if you're not expecting it.

Also, the majority of the route is out and back along the coast so this can be tough mentally. We made the mistake of driving the course the day before the race which made it tougher again I reckon. Best to just save the suspense for race day...

central park

Thanks for the tips. I've learnt the hard way not to drive any route beforehand as it can have a very negative impact on the run. Not mad about an out and back course, where you can see all the people in front of you heading for the finish!Thats fine if you're the one out in front but for plodders like me, I hate it! Anyway, will give it a go, have to get the memory of DCM 09 out of my mind!

seanynova

Hi,
I've entered the Edinburgh marathon, it's my first one! I have my flights booked from Cork but no accomodation, anyone with suggestions of guest houses??? I'm travelling there on my own.

By the sounds of it, it's a good circuit for a good time, hopefully I'll break the 3:30 mark. I was fit enough before starting my training and using the run republic 3:30 training schedule. Seams good, with a lot of exposure to longer runs.

Cheers,
Sean

central park

Glad there'll be another Irish body heading to Edinburgh. Sounds like you're a very fast runner so you'll be back and celebrating before I finish! As regards accomodation, the hotels seemed to have hiked up their prices for that weekend so sort it out asap. I got a room w/ breakfast for two nights in the Premier Inn for two of us for 231 euro, not cheap but not too bad. Best of luck with your first Marathon, but be warned, it's addictive!!!

RacoonQueen

This is the list from the Spring Marathons thread, anyone else in or out?
10.5 weeks to go...:eek:

Edinburgh - 23/05/10
RQ
Oisin11178
Chinguetti
Blueskye
actwithoutwords
aero2k
Slogger Jogger (maybe)
rigal
kandikane
rovers_runner
flying_scotsman
central park

central park

central park is in there too ( Sub 5.00 hopefully!)

seanynova

I stayed at the premier inn up at Lauriston a year ago, not bad tbh...and still very close to the city.
I'll probably try and get a guest house out of town and walk/run to the start in the morning as my warm up. I wouldn't say I'm a fast runner, but I'm optimistic about my target, hopefully I'll know more after the Ballybunion and West Cork halves.

RQ: you can add me to the list also.

TakeaBowSon

I'm in aswell - Looking forward to it now!!

Theres a good few of us going over..we're staying in the Jurys Inn in the city centre.

We booked through moneysupermarket.co.uk - it seemed to be the cheapest....

Diggy78

2 stars (poor)

Edinburgh - 23/05/10
RQ
Oisin11178
Chinguetti
Blueskye
actwithoutwords
aero2k
Slogger Jogger (maybe)
rigal
kandikane
rovers_runner
flying_scotsman
central park
diggy78

Git101

3 stars (average)

Edinburgh - 23/05/10
RQ
Oisin11178
Chinguetti
Blueskye
actwithoutwords
aero2k
Slogger Jogger (maybe)
rigal
kandikane
rovers_runner
flying_scotsman
central park
diggy78
Git101

I'm in ...