EDINBURGH MARATHON 2026
By Eleanor Johnston
The day of the Edinburgh Marathon started early, and when I was woken up at around 6.00am, I was not amused and was not in the mood to run 26.2 miles. After getting ready and forcing some breakfast down, I walked my parents to the bus stop, before hopping on and meeting Rhea. We both discussed pre-race nerves, the weather, and the most important factor in any race – the toilet situation at the starting area.
We made our way to the Royal Mile and cheered on the WERC members taking on the Half Marathon. All of whom were in good spirits, smiling and cheering, building up an exciting atmosphere. It was when my sister, Emily, ran past and shouted at us “It’s really hot!” that the reality of the weather situation set in. It was hot. It was only going to continue getting hotter. And we were going to be running through the worst of it.
Never less, we made our way to Bristo Square and quickly began the continual loop of going to the bathroom for probably about an hour. Bumping into other WERC members near the beginning we all had the same dread: the weather.
Then it was time to get going. I was in a faster pen then the year before, which meant less weaving to get through at the beginning and keeping with people more my pace. I felt good for the first I’d say 10K, then started to really feel the heat and the sun beating down on me. I managed to force down my gels (I didn’t want to make the same mistake of not fuelling properly in London) and took every opportunity to have water and run through any hoses, sprinklers or water guns very kind members of the public were dishing out.
Went I passed my parents and Emily, Emily ended up running beside me for a couple of minutes, helping me open an energy block that my wet/sweaty/Vaseline covered hands would not. She also passed me some electrolytes which were needed. I slowed my pace by about a minute and shouted to Emily not to expect any PBs today.
Passing the halfway mark, the only thought I had was ‘Oh God, I have to run this all again’. I was not in a good headspace, looking at my watch every 2 seconds, praying the miles would magically disappear. Which sadly, they did not.
Around the mile 16 mark, my hip started to really niggle. I had not fully recovered from London, and my hip was paying for it. I slowed my pace down again, continued taking gels, salt tablets and any water I could get my hands on.
Getting to the turn back and heading back into Prestonpans and Musselburgh lifted my spirits a bit, but my hip was so sore and the combination of gels, water (and lack of water) and the heat was starting to mess with my stomach, making me feel like I could be sick any moment. Of course, that fact wasn’t helped by many other runners around me fainting, throwing up at the side of the road, or collapsed getting medical help.
I ended up on the phone to Emily when I could and started to do short walking bursts followed by running to get myself to the end.
Those last 3 miles seemed to go on forever, and it wasn’t until I saw Emily, my parents and friends cheering me on that I managed to speed up a bit and get over the line in under 4 hours.
It wasn’t what I had hoped for timewise and I didn’t think the weather would affect me that much (I’m not sure why – it had affected me the same in London!). But it did teach me a lot. It taught me that I can run (or walk) through the pain even if it isn’t always advised! I learnt that fuelling properly does help (who knew?) and to stay consistent with it. I learnt that your family, friends and teammates will be your biggest support and never be disappointed in you even if you are disappointed in yourself. The cheers, thumbs up and words encouragement really got to me the end with this one. And most importantly, I learnt that not every race will be a PB race…things out with your control affect your performance and that’s okay.
I turned up, I dug deep and I got over the finish line. And that’s all that matters. Well, that and hearing that everyone else struggled with heat and I wasn’t alone in that also sweetens the deal.