Apparently this race has been going on for quite a while now, but I'd never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago. The ParkRun is a free, weekly, timed 5k run along the Cramond Promenade, each Saturday starting at 9:30 am. See here for more info: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/edinburgh. It's short, it's extremely flat, and it's a road race - so why mention it to a group of hill runners? Well, perhaps there are other Carnethies out there that fancy a quick blast on a Saturday morning. The nearby location, the early start and the short course mean that it's pretty handy if your weekend is dominated by something else...or if you simply want to add a fast run to your training. Some Carnethies have already posted times for the club, maybe more can be added.

Rather than just advertise it, I guess I should write a quick report on it too...

On Saturday morning I took the bus down to Cramond to enjoy a rare trip to the coast and to see what this race was all about. Looking around on the start line I didn't see any Carnethies, but then the Wilkinson family (Michael, Trevor and Rhys) came over to say hello. Mysteriously, Matt Grove then appeared out of nowhere standing one-footed in (what I think was) the "Tree" yoga position. Very strange. Pleasantries were exchanged, then we were off. The route is an out-and-back along the promenade starting near Cramond and turning back near the West Shore Road. Initially the wind was favourable and the sky bright, but by the turn the rain started and the wind picked up. The race seemed to uncover my failings - the first two kilometres highlighted my poor preparation, as my lungs burst trying to get into a speedy rhythm, and the final three highlighted my cowardly nature as I tucked-in behind a faster fella to shield me from the driving rain. Not very gentlemanly, I know, but it got me round in good time. A good race for all the Carnethies including a PB for Matt.