Edinburgh Apartments Ltd

Dates for Edinburgh Marathon 2012

In Edinburgh we like festivals so rather than just a marathon we now have a running festival with various events so anybody can join. This page is mainly about the full marathon but a full list of the event dates are below:

Saturday 26th May 2012: International breakfast run, 10km event, 5km event, 5km wheelchair, 5km handbike, childrens races (2 different age groups 6-10 years and 11 - 14 years

Sunday 27th May 2012: Full marathon, half marathon and the team relay event

About the full marathon course

The Edinburgh marathon is quite a good one for runners who don't have a lot of marathon experience because it is a generally flat race with a little more downhill runnning over the first 6 miles from Holyrood Park towards Portobello. From then on the route follows the coast so as you would expect is relatively flat so if you are looking to get a personal best time Edinburgh marathon is known as a good place to try.

Stage 1 - London Road/Regent Road to Meadowbank The marathon actually has 2 starting points on London Road and Regent Road which then merge as they head down to Holyrood park. As you are warming up you will get a great view of Edinburgh from Regent Road looking west past North Bridge and towards the castle. You can visit the castle later because you have got 26+ miles to run first so on to Holyrood Park. First you will run past the Scottish parliament and Holyrood Palace and the route is expected to follow Queens Drive which is all quite flat and not as you see on some of the TV coverage for other running events like the BUPA run which actually involves running around Arthurs Seat - ie thank god you dont have to climb the hill at the start but check the official site in case they change that. You will exit Holyrood Park and past Meadowbank Sports stadium as you head towards Lochend. You will now be heading towards the coast.

Stage 2 - Meadowbank to Portobello From Meadowbank you will head back along London Road before running through Lochend towards Leith Links. At this point you probably wont care that Leith Links has the first written and recorded rules of golf when it was home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. The course is no longer in existence and is open parkland as the Honourable Company moved to Musselburgh and then Muirfield. You are also heading to Musselburgh now and thankfully not as far as Muirfield. If it is a really sunny day you might need to hold your nose for a short section where the sewage works are and avoid thinking of cheeseburgers and chips as you pass McDonalds but once you see the cat and dog home with the Firth of Forth then you know you have passed that bit and are now heading to the promenade at portobello. Its quite a nice section with good coastal views and some bracing sea air to get you going.