Arrived at Meadowbank around 9:30am and met Craig, who had decided to enter the race on the day. I was giving my number. “Number 5” I thought there was a bit of pressure with such a low number….. I was a little nervous while hanging around in the sport centre as there seemed to be a lot of good runners milling about. We soon got on the buses that where transporting all the runners to the start line just past the cat & dog home on the prom.
The race started on time with no dramas. My plan for the race was to keep a steady pace of around 8:30min/mile pace. I soon lost sight of Dermott by the end of the prom and Craig had pulled out a bit of a lead on me too. I past Alex at the end of the prom, unfortunately I was on the wrong side for him to get any pictures. Passing through Musselburgh there was great support from all MDAC who were doing a great job marshalling. I made it to Port Seton with no problems and on time with the help of a young girl from Edinburgh Uni who was pacing about the same as me. Port Seton was where my support team were waiting to cheer me on and where I picked up my Go Gel and choc bar and headed on down the coast.
Pasted the 10 mile mark in 79mins, a little faster than planned but felt great. Managed to catch up with Craig at the 13 mile water station where I decided to pick up the pace a little. (I would be made to pay for this later in the race!)
After I reached the top of the small hill at the start of Dirleton, the increase in pace took its toll and I had to stop for a minute. I was furious with myself for having to stop and for going to fast to soon!
Jo and my family had move to Dirleton to cheer me on this was a great help but I had to stop again at the end of Dirleton. I meet a guy called Martin at the end of the town who was in the exact same boat as me so we decided to get to the 18mile water station (2:30min) and have a break and do the last 2 miles together at a nice 9/10mile pace which would still get us home well under the 3hr mark. The 2 of us made it to North Berwick where the crowds cheered us to the finish line in 2hrs 48mins 12sec.
Overall it was a great day and to knock 52mins off my last year’s time I was over the moon but there was still a small part of me furious from miss judging the pace and also having to stop during the race.
