Run Edinburgh, Run!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of a ten day break in Edinburgh.  I have a lot of family up there but the chance to visit doesn't come as often as I'd like.  Last time I was up I took my running kit and went for a couple of runs during the stay, this time was no different.  Well, it was a little different as somehow I managed to pack more running gear than civvies.

The reason for all the kit was the impending Leeds 1/2 Marathon.  I am nowhere near ready for the race and I couldn't let a holiday get in the way of my lapsed training.  My plan was simple, two Long Slow Runs, a mid week 10k, and a birthday visit to Edinburgh parkrun to round off the holiday.

Why would you not run along this?

My Mum lives just outside Portobello so this would be the starting point of all of my runs for the week.  This is no bad thing as Portobello is home to a 3 kilometre long promenade which runs along the Firth of Fourth.  I've run along the "prom" before, incorporating it into a 10k route, but on Sunday my LSR was a 13k out and back, so I was bound to be running into the coastal wind at some point.
 

The legendarily changeable Edinburgh weather is the reason I took so much kit with me.  On Sunday morning I woke up to glorious sunshine and set off down Brunstane Burn Path towards Joppa and the start of the Prom.  The first 6.5k felt good but the return leg was much less comfortable, not due to the wind, but because of the raising sun reflecting off the Fourth.  I really must invest in some sunglasses! 13k 1:08:25.

For my next run I decided to head inland and take in the beauty of Holyrood Park.  I had a 10k route planned but altered it last minute due to Mum's concern about me running through Niddrie.  For a number of reasons I shouldn't have changed my route.  Firstly, I do most of my running in the less than salubrious inner-city areas of Leeds so Niddrie should have held no fear for me.  Secondly I was running in a city that I don't know that well.  Due to this I got lost.

Mmmm, craggy.

I knew that I would be fine and find my way back home as long as I kept the crags of Arthur's Seat on my right hand side.  I was right but I was way off course.  I found myself outside the Commonwealth Pool, dropped back into the park and made my way home, having added 3k and a stupid hill to my run.  13.3k 1:07:42.

On Thursday morning I went back to the front for the second LSR of the week.  Another 13k but this time with much less company.  I saw lots of other runners on my original run on the prom and Holyrood Park was full of people running and cycling on their lunch breaks.  Thursday morning is not peak running time.  The hills and added distance to the midweek run didn't do me any favours but I could run for days on end along any coastline, which is a good job as I had one more date with the Fourth.  13k 1:08:55

Saturday, for lots of runners, is parkrun day and I wasn't going to miss out just because I was on holiday.  I made my way across the city in plenty of time for the start and joined the first timers and visiting parkrunners for the briefing.  It turns out that Edinburgh was the 2nd park run in Scotland, missing out to Glasgow, but they are proudly the biggest and fastest parkrun North of the border.

What a location for a parkrun, best in the UK?

I'm used to small parkruns of 70-100 people, so standing at the start with over 500 other runners was more like a race day.  The only thing missing was the mass warm-up and the uncomfortable bib number.  We got underway and I found myself moving rapidly through the pack, backwards.  I know I'm not the fastest runner but at home I'm normally in the top 20 at parkrun.  People were streaming past me even though I felt like I was keeping a good pace on a flat course.

The final 2k was into the wind and I knew that I was slowing down because of it, but my split times had been much better than my legs were telling me.  I crossed the line just ahead of a runner that I had set my sights on at the start, got my barcode scanned and waited for the best part of the day to get my official time. 5k 22:38 NEW 5K PB

South Leeds Lakers on tour at Edinburgh parkrun

I had been hoping for a PB given that the Edinburgh route is flat as a pancake but I was over the moon with that time, 20 seconds faster than my previous PB.  It surprised me that Edinburgh only has one parkrun given Leeds has four, but having now run the course at Silverknowes I don't think I'd want to run a 5k anywhere else in Edinburgh, it fits so well where it is.

I'd had a brilliant week of running, give or take sun-blindness and getting lost.  I'd managed to get some good miles under my belt for the Leeds 1/2 and smashed a PB in the process but there was one thing bugging me.  On each of the 4 runs I passed many other runners and very few of them said hello, nodded recognition, or even made eye contact.  I like to think that we are one big happy running family but it would seem that the message is yet to make it to Edinburgh.  So go on lads and lassies, crack a smile.  They make you run faster, honest!