Race Report Edinburgh Marathon Festival 5km Saturday 27th May

Hello everyone

Last weekend was a big one in Edinburgh, with the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. I think there are now about 9 events.
Saturday 5km & 10km & Kids races
Sunday half marathon, marathon & relay.

Having done the half marathon & the marathon twice, this year I had signed up for the 5km - in my quest to conquer Arthur's Seat this year.

It was a hot day on Saturday as I headed into Edinburgh for an 11am start.

Stupidly I didn't look at the race details & didn't realise that everything was centred round Dynamic earth, rather than in Holyrood Park like most events there. Lesson #1 - read the details lol

Unusually I had come in by myself, Mr S & Bug were joining me later for the kids km, so I had to drop my bag & find the toilets before the race.....

The bag drop....an area on the grass. Massive queue of people picking up bags from the 10km, then discovered from another runner that we could drop bags for the 5k at the other end. Additional security we'd been told about.......none. I didn't see a single bag being checked.

Jogged round to the area near the start to wait for the toilets......5 minutes before the start had to abandon that idea. Not enough portaloos again Great run. Lesson #2 - leave more time than you think you need!

Joined my start area & at 11am the race started......
went off too fast in first half km, needed a wee & it was really hot & humid :-(
so I really struggled up that f&@king hill, & my head was totally not in the right place.

The course was quite congested & other runners were stopping & walking too due to the weather conditions, which made it hard to get momentum too.
2km into 5km doesn't give you a lot of time to get your head together but I've run Arthur's seat plenty of times & I know I can run 5km no problem so I gave it everything to smash out the last 3km....& just look at that recovery & those Strava PRs :-)
I managed to just sneak in a second quicker than The Great Winter Run 35 minutes 12 seconds.
Not the run I had hoped for but with a few days post race to reflect.....Lesson #3 - I'm stronger physically & mentally than I think.

Finish area was really well organised & great goody bag as always. Nice to see that the organisers had listened to feedback from previous years regarding the generic medal & have added a trinket for each distance.

Then I met up with Mr S & Bug for the kids km.

Fabulous to see a massive turnout for this event for age 4-6, 1km accompanied.
Little Miss Bug was amazing, she ran for about 750m & then walked a bit but I had to carry her most of the last 100m as it started to rain & I think she was a little overwhelmed.
The support for the kids races was phenomenal with spectators lining the course. Little Miss Bug definitely worked the crowd, waving & smiling at everyone.

Would I recommend it?......MAYBE......

 I was disappointed yet again by the lack of race support round the start area, the baggage area on the grass & the lack of toilets, the km markers on the 5km also put some runners off as the 5 & 10k had slightly different starts so there were 2 sets of markers. But the finish area was really well organised this year, no bottle neck like previous events. The hub in Dynamic Earth was really good & the kids races were amazing.

Would I do it again?.....MAYBE.....I'm thinking of getting a relay team together next year.
So another weekend.....another medal for the collection. I have a few now!
& a lovely glass of my favourite Chateau Neuf du Pape to celebrate

Thanks for reading, I'll be back again soon.......

Lots of love
Fudgey xxxx