Edinburgh Marathon
| Edinburgh Marathon | |
|---|---|
| Date | May |
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Event type | Road |
| Distance | Marathon, Half marathon, 10K, 5K |
| Established | 2003 |
| Official site | www |
The Edinburgh Marathon is an annual marathon event, run in Edinburgh, Scotland over the traditional distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi). The first marathon event in Edinburgh was in 1982 and since 2003 the Edinburgh Marathon Festival has been held each year, usually in May. The current route begins in the centre, finishing at Musselburgh. The Edinburgh Marathon has IAAF Bronze Label status and is governed by Scottish Athletics.
On 5 September 1982, the Edinburgh Festival Marathon was the first mass marathon event to be held in the city. Starting in Holyrood Park and running through the Grassmarket and down Lothian Road, along Princes Street and down into Leith, along to Cramond and along the coast back through Silverknowes to Leith, up Easter Road and finishing in Meadowbank Stadium. In 1986 it was called the Commonwealth Games People’s Marathon and held in June, a month ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The Edinburgh Marathon Festival was founded by Geoff Sims and the first year’s event on 15 June 2003, attracted just 3,000 participants. The course started at Meadowbank Stadium, taking in Princes Street, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Frank McGowan from Glasgow won the men’s race in 2.35 with the slowest man Lloyd Stott taking more than six days to complete the race wearing a deep sea diving suit weighing more than 100 pounds.
In 2007 organisers designed a new route that headed in to East Lothian through Longniddry and Port Seton, finishing in Musselburgh race course. With an elevation drop of 40 metres, the average finish time was almost 12 minutes faster than previous year's and Edinburgh earned its title of UK’s fastest marathon. It was the first year that the event made a profit.
In 2010, the half marathon was introduced for the first time with entry levels jumping to more than 24,000.
2011 was the first time the Edinburgh Marathon Festival was hosted over two days. As well as the full marathon, the festival also included a 5K, 10K, two junior races and a half marathon and a team relay race, affectionately named the "Hairy Haggis."
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