KILOMATHON

By Caroline Catto

The Kilomathon is a long established Edinburgh race which took place this year on 6 April 2025. This was WERC’s first Club Championship Event. We asked for a sea of pink and we got it! We had more than 30 runners from the club taking part which was just amazing and incredibly motivating.

Bit about the race:

The race is 13.1k (8.14 miles) so an ideal training distance for an up and coming half or full marathon or perfect for those that want to push their distance past the 10k mark. The route is relatively flat taking you from Leith to a stadium finish at Murrayfield.

The day:

The race started at the ungodly hour of 8.30am on a Sunday morning - yes it was an early sensible night. It starts at Ocean Terminal which was great for meeting all the WERC runners, grabbing a coffee and most importantly going to a nice loo! Lots of us met up before for pre match photos, chat and stretching. Weather was a bit chilly - ideal running weather. As normal like I am with every race, I was nervous at the start - god knows why as it is not as if i am going to win, however as soon as everyone got moving, helped by having fellow WERC runners to run with, the nerves vanished. The race went past the Royal Yacht, looped through Victoria Park and then we hit the cycle paths, which in parts had a gentle incline, all the way to the stadium. There was a bit of congestion round the Park but after that things settled down and there was plenty of space to run and focus. To be honest there is not a great deal to see on the route but it has the advantage of being on tarmac with no roads to navigate. After the 10k mark I had probably had enough (lack of training….) but soon Murrayfield came into view which spurred me on (along with chief supporter Rhea) and despite the awful and never ending loop around the Murrayfield clock, it was fantastic to have a stadium finish, with a crowd in front of the West Stand.

I met up again with most of the WERC runners after the race at the back of the stadium for lots of high fives, debrief chat and post race photos. Some of us then headed to Mandy’s house for post race food and drinks.

Would I recommend this race - definitely - well organised, great for training for a longer one, upping your distance, gaining a PB (sadly not for me) and just running a respectful distance with a huge range of mixed ability runners - no pressure here.

Special shout outs to the following:

The injured (at the time) Rhea for supporting ALL of us during the race, taking some fantastic photos and the most delicious creme egg brownies;

Mandy for inviting all club runners to her house for post race hospitality which was terrific.

and to the following for some great positions:

Alan 6th overall (cheque in the post Alan?) and 3rd age category

Jan -1st age category

Anna - 2nd age category and 4th female overall

Keith and Mandy - 2nd age category

Ali - 3rd age category