From Rumana Chowdhury…
This was my 3rd marathon and 1st time running Edinburgh. The route was a delight, starting with the beautiful sights of the city and big shouty crowds, past Arthurs Seat then weaving down various hills to the sea, which was glistening in the sunshine. Then it was out and back along the coast, with the occasional diversion including around a big fancy house (Gosford House apparently) with a brief trail-like feel to mix it up. The weather however was a shocker. The 1st time it hailed was mildly amusing, the 2nd time was far less enjoyable, the 3rd time was in the middle of a 6 mile slightly uphill stretch to the finish, with gale force winds and torrential rain to boot. Definitely character building! You could tell who the trail runners were (strong women, heads up, powering slowly through) and who the road runners were (dejected youngsters walking with their heads hung low and their baseball caps blowing off). I was somewhere in between, trying to keep up some, running into the gusty headwinds whilst being blown sideways and seriously questioning my life choices. Nonetheless, as the crowds built up again towards the end, the sun came back out, and the finish felt suitably epic.
I had trained well and despite the maranoia hitting hard in the taper, my legs did not fall off and I managed to push through the tough weather and the general pain of running 26.2 miles to get a 10 minute PB which I was super happy with. A lovely medal at the end with the nice extra touch of a little keyring as a memento of a challenging and fantastic occasion.