Edinburgh Marathon

Edinburgh Marathon
Date May
Location Edinburgh, Scotland
Event type Road
Distance Marathon, Half marathon, 10K, 5K
Established 2003
Official site edinburgh-marathon.com

The first mass Edinburgh Marathon was held in 1982, starting in Holyrood Park and running through the Grassmarket and down Lothian Road, along Princes Street and down into Leith, along to Cramond and along the coast back through Silverknowes to Leith, up Easter Road and finishing in Meadowbank Stadium.

The Edinburgh Marathon Festival has been held each year in Edinburgh, Scotland since 2003, usually in May. It is run over the traditional distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi). The Edinburgh Marathon has IAAF Bronze Label status and is governed by Scottish Athletics.

History

The Edinburgh Marathon Festival was founded by Geoff Sims and the first year’s event on June 15, 2003, attracted just 3,000 participants. The course started at Meadowbank Stadium, taking in Princes Street, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Frank McGowan from Glasgow won the men’s race in 2.35 with the slowest man Lloyd Stott taking more than six days to complete the race wearing a deep sea diving suit weighing more than 100 pounds.

In 2007 organisers designed a new route that headed in to East Lothian through Longniddry and Port Seton, finishing in Musselburgh race course. With an elevation drop of 40 metres, the average finish time was almost 12 minutes faster than previous year's and Edinburgh earned its title of UK’s fastest marathon.

In 2010, the half marathon was introduced for the first time with entry levels jumping to more than 24,000.

2011 was the first time the Edinburgh Marathon Festival was hosted over two days. As well as the full marathon, the festival also included a 5K, 10K, two junior races and a half marathon and a team relay race, affectionately named the “Hairy Haggis.”

Men's winners

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)
Notes
2003 Reilly, GrahamGraham Reilly  United Kingdom 2:16:21
2004 Kihara, ZacharyZachary Kihara  Kenya 2:21:45
2005 Kihara, ZacharyZachary Kihara  Kenya 2:15:26 Course record
2006 Mbithi, JosephJoseph Mbithi  Kenya 2:15:46P
2007 Grime, IanIan Grime  United Kingdom 2:31:57
2008 MacNamara, PaulPaul MacNamara  Ireland 2:25:05
2009 Williams, MartinMartin Williams  United Kingdom 2:18:24
2010 Littler, SteveSteve Littler  United Kingdom 2:26:31
2011 Nicholls, PhilPhil Nicholls  United Kingdom 2:19:21
2012 Mutai, JohnJohn Mutai  Kenya 2:19:52
2013[1] Lema, TolaTola Lema  Ethiopia 2:15:32
2014 Toniok, DavidDavid Toniok  Kenya 2:15:33

Women's winners

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)
Notes
2003 McCallum, MichaelaMichaela McCallum  United Kingdom 2:48:06
2004 Poltawskaja, WalentinaWalentina Poltawskaja  Ukraine 2:47:24
2005 Semjonowa, SinaidaSinaida Semjonowa  Russia 2:33:36 Course record
2006 Howe, AngelaAngela Howe  United Kingdom 2:51:41
2007 Matheson, FionaFiona Matheson  United Kingdom 2:54:43
2008 Powell, PaulinePauline Powell  United Kingdom 2:47:56
2009 Rush, HollyHolly Rush  United Kingdom 2:41:38
2010 Gee, SarahSarah Gee  United Kingdom 2:38:16
2011 Harris, SarahSarah Harris  United Kingdom 2:42:59
2012 Lehonkova, NataliaNatalia Lehonkova  Ukraine 2:39:48
2013 Kimaiyo, RisperRisper Kimaiyo  Kenya 2:35:58
2014 Stetsenko, KaterynaKateryna Stetsenko  Ukraine 2:36:07

Criticism

The Edinburgh Marathon is often criticised for the complex logistics involved for both runners and spectators, as the course's layout necessitates travel between Edinburgh city centre and East Lothian. Due to road closures and infrequent train services, there are often bottlenecks of traffic and long delays. Although shuttle buses are provided, many runners struggle with the long walk to the pick-up point after their race.

Additionally, whilst the race starts in Edinburgh, less than eight miles of the course lie within the city boundaries, with the remainder being run in East Lothian. The course encompasses less than three miles of the city centre.

For the 2014 race, the organisers initially refused to publish full results, only giving times for the top three in each category. This sparked criticism from runners, with many threatening to boycott future events. It may have breached rules from the International Association of Athletics Federations.[2] Following feedback, the organisers later decided to publish full results.[3]

References

  1. Minshull, Phil (2013-05-26). Lema and Kimaiyo take the honours at the Edinburgh Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-05-31.
  2. Pendreigh, Brian; Munro, Alistair (27 May 2014). "Edinburgh Marathon slammed for withholding results". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. Christie, Kevan (3 June 2014). "Edinburgh Marathon bosses run out of excuses". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 January 2015.

External links