Having not entered the Borders XC (at the time, at least) I was looking for a race to do this weekend. Dumyat Dash was a possibility, but didn’t really fancy it. On the list of options was the Men’s 10k Edinburgh, which handily finishes near my flat and doesn’t start too far away. While I’m ok with gender-specific races, I can’t say I particularly like the idea of entirely gender-specific events. If you’re closing the roads anyway, you could just stagger two gender races and get everyone involved. Maybe I’m missing the point, I don’t know. However, on a positive note, with half the country excluded from entering then statistically I might get a better finish position, so I promptly entered!
The race started on the Lawnmarket, with all the trimmings usually associated with an inner city race: tannoys, local DJ, bag lorries, crowd barriers, flags, banners, and all that jazz. I met fellow Carnethy Ian Jackson there, where we discussed how very unlike a Mountain Marathon it all was. Anyway, it was all well organized, good atmosphere, all quite good fun. I was dreading the start which would be a steep descent down Bank St and then twisting round towards Waverley, and would likely be absolutely manic. I was right. The descent forced a brutally fast pace right from the gun. There was some respite with a slight incline up Jeffrey St to the Royal Mile, but then back to some more brutally fast running down to Holyrood. Blurgh! The flatter sections round Abbeyhill and onto Queens Drive were actually quite nice, allowing you to get into a rhythm, but then came around a mile of uphill along the Cowgate, and a nasty kick up to West Port. From Bread Street onwards, through Lothian Road and the Western Approach, was fairly flat and allowed the remainder of the run to be controlled by your own pace rather than terrain. A final (annoyingly tight) switchback in Murrayfield grounds led to a run across the pitch of the stadium itself to cross the line.
I managed to get round in a PB of 36:41, Ian finished a bit later in 49:37. Both of us a good distance off the winner, Andrew Douglas in 30:27. Lisa Mitchell was first lady(!?) in 48:05. Maybe I misread the entry, maybe anyone can enter, who knew? Apologies if I’ve missed any other Carnethies, I didn’t see anyone else and they don’t list the clubs in the results.
A good route, very scenic, with great weather on the day. The finish at Murrayfield Stadium is a nice touch, and it was all very well marshalled and was well organised throughout. I actually think the route was far better than the old Edinburgh 10k (remember that?) which started at the Meadows. At £17 it was reasonably priced for a big city race (Great Scottish Run 10k is £26!), and you got the usual gubbins afterwards like a t-shirt, Craisins, Natural Bar, along with a couple of surprises, like some cereal, some hair “styling clay” and shampoo. You also got a massive medal, which is probably worth £17 in scrap metal alone.
Jim Hardie