Edinburgh Marathon
DateMay
LocationEdinburgh and East Lothian, Scotland
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon, Half marathon, 10K, 5K
Established2003
Course recordsMen:
 Joel Kiptoo (KEN) 2:13:33
Women:
 Zinaida Semenova (RUS) 2:33:36
Official siteEdinburgh Marathon

The Edinburgh Marathon is an annual marathon event, governed by Scottish Athletics and run in Scotland over the traditional distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi). The first marathon event in Edinburgh was in 1982. Further marathons were held in Edinburgh in 1986 and 1999. Since 2003 the Edinburgh Marathon Festival has been held each year, usually in May. The current route begins in the city centre, moves out of Edinburgh into East Lothian, finishing at Musselburgh, East Lothian.

History

On 5 September 1982, the Edinburgh Festival Marathon was the first mass marathon event to be held in the city.[1] 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. The following year the race was called the Scotway Marathon and got off to an eventful start when a foolish fun-runner brought down the previous year's winner, breaking bones in the latter's hand. An Edinburgh Waverley Market Marathon was held on Sept 2nd 1984 with winner Lindsay Robertson in a then PB of 2:15:55. The Edinburgh Waverley Market Marathon again took place on Sept 1st 1985. Winner was M Carroll in 2:18:41. In 1986 it was called the Commonwealth Games People's Marathon and held in June, a month ahead of the Commonwealth Games.[2] In 1999 the PUMA Edinburgh Marathon was held, leaving from Dunfermline and finishing in Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh.[3]

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.[4] 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 into East Lothian through, Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Cockenzie, Port Seton to Gosford House, then back up to the finishing line at the playing fields at Pinkie St Peter's Primary School, Musselburgh. With an elevation drop of 40 metres, the average finish time was almost 12 minutes faster than previous year's Edinburgh earned its title of UK's fastest marathon. It was the first year that the event made a profit.[5] Road closures for the new route affected around 130 streets.[6]

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."

The 2020 edition of the race was postponed to 30 May 2021[lower-alpha 1] due to the coronavirus pandemic, then again to 29 May 2022.[8]

Men's winners

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)		 Notes
1982 Dave Ellis  United Kingdom 2:21:09 [1]
1983 Lindsay Robertson  United Kingdom 2:21:36 [9]
2003 Graham Reilly  United Kingdom 2:16:21
2004 Zachary Kihara  Kenya 2:21:45
2005 Zachary Kihara  Kenya 2:15:26
2006 Joseph Mbithi  Kenya 2:15:46P
2007 Ian Grime  United Kingdom 2:31:57
2008 Paul MacNamara  Ireland 2:25:05
2009 Martin Williams  United Kingdom 2:18:24
2010 Steve Littler  United Kingdom 2:26:31
2011 Phil Nicholls  United Kingdom 2:19:21
2012 John Mutai  Kenya 2:19:52
2013 Tola Lema  Ethiopia 2:15:32 [10]
2014 David Toniok  Kenya 2:15:33
2015 Peter Wanjiru  Kenya 2:19:36
2016 Boaz Kiprono  Kenya 2:19:55 [11]
2017 Julius Korir  Kenya 2:17:13
2018 Joel Kiptoo  Kenya 2:13:33 Course record
2019 Dan Tanui  Kenya 2:30:13
2020postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic[8]
2021postponed to 2022 due to coronavirus pandemic
2022 Matt Gillette  United States 2:17:57
2023 Alex Gladley  United Kingdom 2:21:34

Half Marathon

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)		 Notes
2010 Dave Webb  United Kingdom 1:04:45 [12]
2011 Andrew Douglas  United Kingdom 1:06:49
2012 Michael Deason  United States 1:08:20
2013 William Ryan Beattie  United Kingdom 1:09:30
2014 Ross Houston  United Kingdom 1:07:16
2015 Thomas Porter  United States 1:08:58
2016 Darrell Hastie  United Kingdom 1:10:38
2017 Pasquale-Roberto Rutigliano  Italy 1:09:39
2018 Severino Gómez  Spain 1:10:37
2019 Karl Darcy  United Kingdom 1:07:40
2020postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic[8]
2021postponed to 2022 due to coronavirus pandemic[8]

Women's winners

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)		 Notes
1982 Leslie Watson  United Kingdom 2:49:34 [1]
1983 Patricia Marshall  United Kingdom [9]
2003 Michaela McCallum  United Kingdom 2:48:06
2004 Walentyna Poltawska  Ukraine 2:47:24
2005 Zinaida Semenova  Russia 2:33:36 Course record
2006 Angela Howe  United Kingdom 2:51:41
2007 Fiona Matheson  United Kingdom 2:54:43
2008 Pauline Powell  United Kingdom 2:47:56
2009 Holly Rush  United Kingdom 2:41:38
2010 Sarah Gee  United Kingdom 2:38:16
2011 Sarah Harris  United Kingdom 2:42:59
2012 Nataliya Lehonkova  Ukraine 2:39:48
2013 Risper Kimaiyo  Kenya 2:35:58
2014 Kateryna Stetsenko  Ukraine 2:36:07
2015 Joan Kigen  Kenya 2:39:42
2016 Eddah Jepkosgei  Kenya 2:39:53 [11]
2017 Eddah Jepkosgei  Kenya 2:37:46
2018 Caroline Jepchirchir  Kenya 2:47:35
2019 Melanie Wilkins  United Kingdom 2:42:56
2020postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic[8]
2021postponed to 2022 due to coronavirus pandemic
2022 Virginie Barrand  France 2:45:03
2023 Jemima Farley  United Kingdom 2:39:39

Half Marathon

Year Athlete Nationality Time
(h:m:s)		 Notes
2010 Dianne Lauder  United Kingdom 1:16:59 [12]
2011 Becky Penty  United Kingdom 1:15:31
2012 Gabriela Traña  Costa Rica 1:15:01
2013 Dianne Lauder  United Kingdom 1:24:50
2014 Gladys Ganiel  Ireland 1:17:26
2015 Gemma Rankin  United Kingdom 1:17:21
2016 Tracy Millmore  United Kingdom 1:18:41
2017 Avril Mason  United Kingdom 1:19:49
2018 Breege Connolly  Ireland 1:16:07
2019 Molly Browne  United Kingdom 1:18:27
2020postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic[8]
2021postponed to 2022 due to coronavirus pandemic

Finisher statistics

Total of runners finishing the original marathon distance

YearMenWomenTotal
200320287542782
200421147382853
2005322711924419
2006292611704096
2007253810313587
2008452020926612
2009557026848254
2010664728129459
2011679729409737
2012542526388063
2013541427288142
2014580628098615
2015479623897185
2016427423226596

Criticism

Whilst the race starts in Edinburgh, less than eight miles of the course lie within the city boundaries, with the majority being run in East Lothian (including the Finish at Musselburgh). The course encompasses less than three miles of the city centre.

For the 2014 race, the organisers sent competitors details of their individual times but initially did not publish the full results, only giving times for the top three in each category.[13] Within a few days, EMF events issued an apology via their website and published the full results.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ It was first postponed on 2020.03.16 to 2020.09.06.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Marathon protest by pro runners". The Glasgow Herald. 6 September 1982. p. 18. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Douglas, Derek (31 January 1986). "Marathon gets a new start". The Glasgow Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Race future in balance already". The Herald. 27 September 1999. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "The race that just seems to run and run". The Scotsman. 13 June 2003. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Edinburgh Marathon boss tells of his journey to the big day". The Scotsman. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Edinburgh Marathon build-up - and road closures guide". The Scotsman. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Home | Edinburgh Marathon Festival - 29/30th May 2021". 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 Cusick, James (5 September 1983). "Police gear up for Glasgow marathon". p. 3. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2013-05-26). Lema and Kimaiyo take the honours at the Edinburgh Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-05-31.
  11. 1 2 Woods, Mark (30 May 2016). "Kenyan dominance of Edinburgh marathon continues". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Scottish Half Marathon, Edinburgh, 23 May 2010". RunBritain Rankings. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  13. ↑ Pendreigh, Brian; Munro, Alistair (27 May 2014). "Edinburgh Marathon slammed for withholding results". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  14. ↑ Christie, Kevan (3 June 2014). "Edinburgh Marathon bosses run out of excuses". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
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