RACE THE TRAM
By Tiffany Ronaldson
A new race for this year from Blast Running, where you board the 8am tram at Edinburgh Park Central and then either get off at St Andrew Square or Newhaven and then race that same tram back to Edinburgh Park Central. This tram stop is served very well by Patina Bakery for some excellent coffee and pastries after - incentive enough for me!
Kathryn and I, having a similar run pace, decided to run this together from St Andrew Square (approx 6 miles). Google Maps told us that the quickest route for us back to Patina/Edinburgh Park Central wasn't a great one - all on roads and with the possibility of getting lost around the Gyle. After a few iterations, we settled on running along Rose Street (rather than Princes Street) and some quieter back roads to Haymarket and Roseburn where we came off onto cyclepath for the remainder of the route.
Our chosen 07:12 tram out to Edinburgh Park Central in the morning failed to appear, leaving me in the baking sun at the Murrayfield Tram Stop for 20 minutes where I got chatting to another runner, Ian. Ian asked if I ran for a club (clearly I looked very professional) and when I told him he laughed and informed me that Alan used to be his running NEMESIS.
Kathryn joined us on the tram at Balgreen along with Russell and Sally and before we knew it we were at the start, registered and eagerly awaiting the 8am tram with Alan, Alison and Lisa. Around 170 of us piled onto said tram, instantly filling it and puzzling everyone who subsequently tried to get on. The excitement was palpable - I couldn't wait to get off and start running! Standing still was perhaps not the best warm up I've ever done though. There was some chat on the tram about the best position to be - front or back? which side would the doors open?
As soon as the doors opened at St Andrew Square, we set off on our chosen route at a decent pace, enjoying the early sunshine and the quiet streets. It was interesting to see which way others were going, quite a few chose the back streets like us. Stopping for most of the traffic lights in the West End set us back a little but we were happy with our route choice.
After passing Donaldson's we left the roads behind and ran a very familiar route around Murrayfield to the Balgreen tram stop. There weren't that many runners in sight now, who knows which routes they chose? The weather was quickly turning with the black clouds rolling in and we were running into a strong head-wind. My legs were heavy from the Inverleith Sundowner race on Wednesday - a 2 race week!
With approximately half a mile to go we decided to pick up the pace a little and even managed a sprint finish!
We had beaten the tram with around 13 minutes to spare and received a goody bag and a coaster.
A few moments later, the heavens opened so we quickly ducked under a tree to cheer the others on. Alan appeared from the other direction and had to turn around in order to cross the finish line, but came third in the Newhaven group. Well done Alan!
All in all a fabulous idea, great fun and many amusing stories of people getting lost afterwards. The coffee and cinnamon swirl from Patina were the best and I'm definitely going to do this again - probably before the actual event next year! Well done to all that completed it!