In Which I Get Hurt, But Carry On, Like The Hero/Idiot I Am

Saturday 24th May 2025

Edinburgh Marathon Festival Weekend is here AGAIN. Seems like it’s only been about a year since the last one! As is our routine, my son (now six) runs one of the kids races and I run one of the adult ones. (Was gonna make a joke about how I should enter the kids one and I’d have a chance of winning but watching some of the speed that they go at? No chance)!

As my son is now six he had a choice, he could do the 1km (for ages 3-6) or the 1.5km (ages 6-8). He wanted me to run it with him (I could win that!) and so we’d entered the 1km. On your own next year kid! This was his fourth time running this race, he first did it when he was just three and has done it each year since.

It’s always such a nice day watching the kids run, they (mostly) seem to enjoy it so much (few tears here and there, including from the parents). As we were getting to the starting pen he saw a friend from his class who was also in the race and they had a pre-race brief. (HI! HI! Are you running? Yes. Me too. Bye. Bye).

Then the countdown was on and we were off. It’s a nice route they choose (slightly different start to last year but not by much). It’s an out and back and you run in the shadow of Arthurs Seat, in front of the Palace of Holyrood, and there’s always so much support. We zoom zoomed all the way and finished the 1k in 6min and 19seconds. Brand new PB for him!

They all get a medal and a finishers shirt along with the usual water and snack bar, and then his school were having a photo-op for all the kids that had taken part in any race that morning so we headed to Dynamic Earth to meet up with the others and (after a lot of rounding up excited children) they had pictures taken from about a hundred phones by proud parents. Me included.

Sunday 25th May 2025

Early early EARLY start. The Edinburgh Half Marathon (my race) starts at 8am (full at 10am) and so I was up and atom at 5.45am. I had my usual microwave burger for breakfast (only usual on race day, it’s not like it’s my everyday start to the mornings) and a coffee then it was already time to head out.

I got chatting to a few runners at the bus stop and gave advice to one concerned mother about the best way to get to the finish line, then the bus turned up and I tuned out for half hour. The half/full start in the centre of Edinburgh (close enough to call it the centre anyway) and finished a few miles away in Musselburgh (in my sons school grounds, handily) and for those that are here for the first time or supporting it can be a bit of a stress to get to the end if you’ve watched the start.

The start is ten minutes walk away from my work (again, handy), so I got off the bus and went to work to use the facilities and have a bit of a relax. Chatted to my colleague for a while then made my way to meet my lass and have a catch up before the race began. Bored her for a while about race strategies and all that nonsense and, after saying goodbye, got into my start pen.

When the training was going well and I was full of the confidence of the naïve, I’d put a finish time of 1h 45m. Since then, with moving house, illness, all the joys, I’d re-input my finish time as 2hr 15m. BUT, looking around the rest of my pen, I was amongst a lot of very fit looking people. No matter, I was going to run my own race and stick to the plan and if that made me look slow in the middle of them all then so be it. (Didn’t stick to the middle, started at the side so that I’m easily overtaken).

Then, as seems to happen a fair bit this weekend, the sounder sounded and the race was on. It starts on a place called Potterrow then goes along George IV Bridge, in front of the National Library of Scotland (hi work!) and winds its way down the Mound and through Princes St Gardens. You then run by Waverly Station and join on to the Royal Mile to Holyrood palace and and out and back section before following the kids route from the day before.

I was feeling fine at this stage, nothing was getting pushed and I was sticking to around 9.30min/mile which was too quick for the (lack of) training I’d done so at 5km I made myself slack off a bit. We aimed for the coast the looks out to the Firth of Forth and found it at about 5 miles, then it was a long stretch through Portobello, keeping the beach on the left.

So much of the half marathon is supported amazingly well, crowds and signs and cheers all through the run. I bet from the 13 miles there’s cheering for at LEAST 12 miles of the route. Coming through Portobello we reached halfway and then into Musselburgh (where I live, could almost see my house) where we winded a bit in and out and over the river, then round the racecourse and VERY near the finish line. Shame then, that that was only 10 miles for us and we had another out and back to do before getting to go over it.

Also a shame was the fact that my left calf muscle had started to pull at about mile nine and it didn’t seem to want to shift. Never mind, I’ll walk/run for a while and when it goes away I’ll get my head back in the race. It didn’t go away. Nowhere NEAR going away. Full on pulled muscle and ideas of having to stop came into my head. But, probably not the best thing in this situation, I’m no quitter and I was going to finish. Plus I knew I had my best little supporter yet to see on the way to the end so that kept my head right.

I’d slowed all the way down, one of my slowest miles looking back was just over 12mins. But what can you do? I knew I was going to finish and decided it didn’t matter what time, I’d had zero aspirations of anything under 2hrs 15min and it looked like I was going to be right. Carried on to the turn around, picked up more water, and then headed for home. 1.5mile to go, run walk hobble hobble run walk hobble.

Distance was getting ticked off bit by bit and then a massive boost came, I saw my son at the side cheering me on (wearing his finish shirt and medal). How could I not be spurred on by his little face? I stopped for a quick chat (he was with his Granny and Grandad) and then I said my goodbyes and headed for the end. By the racecourse once more (in the right direction this time) and then turned into the school playing fields, down the impressively supported finished chute and done.

Official time of 2hr 21min 24sec.

Post race was a struggle to the bus stop then a struggle walk along my road home. My leg stayed sore for about a week before I tried to run again then I re-hurt the muscle so had another week rest. Happy to report it seems to be fine now so can start looking at serious Yorkshire Marathon training!

That afternoon was all about junk food and junk movies. My son stayed at his granny’s to let me recover so all I did all afternoon was eat, drink, and relax. What a Sunday!

I’m working on changing up my blog a bit to represent more of an overview of things and projects I’m doing, so they’ll be some recipes, book reviews, my writings about being a parent, a more rounded kinda blog. Please stay, I quite like you.