Edinburgh marathoners past and present

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  • Winter arrived about mid march on the west coast markk if the sign for it is that you had a day of pissing rain. I went up to Forfar loch yesterday and couldn't blieve how squelchy it was underfoot given that it hasn't rained here for days other than a couple of hours on saturday night. I couldn't really work out where the 20 yard long puddles on the playing fields would come from if there had been no rain for 3 days.  Its fair to see my lovely trail shoes look more worn after a month than my last pair did after about 6 years.

    Jac from little acorns great big feckin trees grow and all that. image

    The footie was fab tonight.  How good was Kevin Prince Boeteng's goal for Milan.  Best I have seen for a long time.  Watched it at mum and dads and am really starting to hate goal alert on sky which my dad seems to think is the badgers nadgers.  You spend half your time watching goals from games you didn't want to see in the 1st place and miss all the action in the game you wanted to see,  I'm going to sneak into their house when they aren't in and steal the red button from their remote control so they can't ruin perfectly good games any longer. image

    Nitey nite everybody. image

  • Ha Can, congratulations on formally christening yer trail shoes then! image  Actually, I have a bone to pick with you while I'm at it - I clearly didn't properly read your comment the other day about me "bottling the ToF Up Hell Time Trial in 2009" image  I assure you that was not the case - I was sitting at home with my knee elevated, strapped up and with an ice pack on it and chomping ibuprofen!  I was not bottling out - how very dare you indeed!
    Right, now that's off my chest I shall tell you about my fantastic run tonight! image  I did the same 3 mile route I tackled on Sunday.  Tonight I ran it in 27:23, whereas on Sunday I did it in.......31:06!!!  Now, tell me how that happens?  It was a lovely evening on Sunday and tonight was blowing a gale with horizontal rain!  There really is no logic with this running lark is there?!
    Anyhoo, happy running!

    Jac image

  • Well done Jac,  Cold, wet and windy is great for running.  You want to get in the house as soon as humanly possible and you need to run faster just to stop hypothermia setting in. image

    How much more elevation did you want for your knee that night other that to take it from the falkland road all the way up to the TV mast at the top of east lomond hill.  image All I know is I made my way across the Tay to Fife on a manky wet night to stand in a rain cloud at the car park at the top of east lomond hill to see my friend Jacasaurus with an assortment of chocolate to replenish the sugar you lost on the ascent and as the water penetrated my second jacket, jeans and t-shirt it soon became evident that you didn't appear at the top of the hill.  I had to eat your toffee crisp and/or mars bar myself as a form of comfort eating to get over the disappointment.  Still not really got over the disappointment. image

  • Did you not run it in 2010? image  It wasn't raining that night but you still didn't come up the hill for your choccy bar lol image
  • Dundee score 4 goals in a single game rather than a calender month. image
  • Hi all.

    CANIGGIA, well done Dundee. The least said about Ipswich the better. Two games in a row now. What a spineless, pathetic defense they have. I don't blame Paul Jewell as I like him as a manager and he has to rely on his defenders to do their job, and if it wasn't for David Stockdale in goal it could have been so much worse. Although Richard  Wright was back in between the sticks yesterday. The standing joke at work is the amount of times they concede goals just before half time and then in injury time at the end. And yet again it has happened After yesterdays effort they should sack the whole defense and get in new guys. Just pathetic. I haven't talked about running either.

    Hi JAC , good to see you out and about again. 

  • Evening everybody.

    Kiwi I did have a laugh when I saw your boys have signed Darryl Murphy to replace Jon Stead you lot do like a sunderland flop.  It is Sunderland's way of getting you back for selling them Marcus Stewart in the Howard Wilkinson relegation season.  Some grudges last long.  The thing Murphy is most famous for is the game where Roy Keane substituted him at half time in a game where he didn't seem to be involved that much.  In fairness I didn't realise how little he had been involved as I had been behind the goal at the other end of the ground.  When you looked at the opta stats for the match he had made no successful or unsuccessful passes, headers, dribbles, tackles or shots.  He hadn't actually touched the ball!!!!!!  I know sometimes folk come on as subs with a couple of minutes to go and never get a touch but to manage that for an entire half is a special skill.  He was a brave boy to go in and face Keane at half time or on Monday morning when he saw the stats.  At least the rest of his team knew the schoolboy 1st law of footie "if he's sh!t don't give him it!!!!!!!!!!!" image

    I'm not normally someone who gets caught up in the mass mourning, fake outrage etc that tends to afflict our PC nation for people I don't know or things that don't affect me in any way shape or form but I have to say the news about Gary Speed really upset me today.  In the mad world of football and their millionaire's life style he just always seemed like such a nice, normal bloke and an absolute gentleman.  If you were to tip the euromillions and be rich beyond your wildest dreams he's the kind of bloke I'd like to be in ten years time rather than the pretentious arsehole you fear you would become even though you would promise yourself that the cash would never change you.  What a strange world we live in when even the folk that seem to have everything you would dream of still seem to have so little. image

    Thats was very philisophical for one of my posts.  Normal service will resume soon no doubt.

    Nitey nite image

  • Very philosophical but very true too. 

  • Afternoon everyone. It's like a whole marathon running reunion in here just now. It's reminding what it was like when I actually dragged myself outside and went running. But not only that I actually enjoyed it. It's not all doom and gloom thankfully. These last few weeks have been ok and I'm slowly getting back in the zone by doing some shorter runs and more work in the gym.  I've spent today planning my marathon goals for the next year so it looks to be Rome in the spring then Berlin in the autumn. What was more concerning is that training week 1 of 16 for Rome begins today. At least I've now got a focus.

    It's been a while since I've had to endure a winter training programme but I'm tentatively looking forward to some proper training again.

  • Evening all. Isn't it a bit wet out there?

    Foot pad injury is on the mend and I'm hopeful that another couple of days and all should be right in the world. I find out if I have made the ballot for the West Highland Way race next Monday so fingers x'd. I've started buying up the local supplies of brufen just in case I actually get in. I think it will be Glasgow Edinburgh double marathon to start the season of in 2012 so need to brave the elements for some long runs over the winter which is always a bit of a chore.....

    Nice to see everyone here again.
  • Lol lol lol!!! image  Yes, it was 2010 Can!!  It's just this year has gone so fast it felt like 2 years ago.  And yes, fair point well made - that was a lot of elevation image  See you at the top next year??  If I brink you chocolate will it help to heal the wounds that I have clearly inflicted  with my non-attendance?!

    Hi Greg, Kiwi, Sue and Markk!! Glad to hear running is also getting better for you Greg, as is your foot Markk!

    In agreement with you Can re. Gary Speed.  Very sad news indeed image

  • All you public sector folk have a nice day off today? Phoned to sign off at the dole to be told they were on strike.... Just me or is there a subtle irony in that statement....
  • Would that be subtle like a baseball bat to the face Markk??! image
  • Guten Abend,

    Markk I think you have mistaken the work "irony" with the words "tory spin" in your last post.  If there is  one scab in the building answering the phones and saying to folk on the front desk that appointments are cancelled or fully booked for the day the centre was open and the slimey arsehole England managed to elect as prime minister will tell you the job centres were all open and nobody was on strike. Alex Salmond must be doing cartwheels at the moment.  There is nothing more likely to result in a referendum vote for scottish independence than 4 years of a Tory government. image

    On the upside the recession must be over.  I worked somewhere yesterday where their in store radio has been filled with attrociously pish cover versions and they were actually playing proper tunes by the original artists for the 1st time since Lehman brothers collapsed.  As soon as the news hit the city of London the FTSE shot up by 100 points in the 1st hour of trading!!!!!! image

    Greg that is a pretty good pair of marathons to pick I like both of them.  Still a bit gutted that I got a migraine 12 hours to the minute before the start of Rome and had so little energy the next morning when the weather was perfect and I was running great but hey ho sh!t happens.  I know people talk about the cobbles a lot but I didn't think they were that bad.  Most of the roads you are running in see an unbelieveable amount of cars crossing them every day and the tyre pounded ones are almost as smooth as running on tarmac.  I strongly recommend changing your runners world screen name to the name of an AS Roma legend get it put on the back of your shirt and see the reaction of the people of Rome.  At one point I had 5 men in a car who didn't look like they had got home yet from the match the night before singing old party songs about Claudio Caniggia driving alongside me for the best part of a mile at a point where the runners were on one side of the road but still traffic on the other.  The cars behind the Roma fans all seemed to like my shirt too they were all tooting their horns (although that might be because the car was driving at about 8.5 mph rather than the 50mph that would have been the normal speed limit if such a thing exists in Italy)!!!!! image

    I might do the Tour of Fife next year.  Not done it for 4 years now.  Really should remind myself why I haven't done it for a while.  If I don't run I'll see you at the top of east lomond hill.  I'll be easy to spot as I'll be the one that people are gravitating towards as I have a pocket full of sweets. image

  • From this day forth I shall now be known by the name of Francesco Totti. 
  • I was thinking to myself yesterday - while stuck in an almighty gridlock at Braehead shopping centre - isn't it strange how busy it is on a Wednesday afternoon. It's usually so quiet because everyone is at work. It must have been a complete coincidence that there was a public sector strike on at the same time. Of course I'm sure all those striking public servants would have been on the picket line standing up for what they believe in and not treating the day as a holiday. Just a strange coincidence.
  • No complaints here if there is a bit more Totti in the hoose. imageimage

  • Can it's a COALITION government not a Tory one, though to be fair the Limp Dicks will be as popular as the Tories when this is all said and done...Still convinced that somewhere there is a six form school master asking "has anyone seen Miliband? He's been off for months and I've not heard a peep from his mother"...

    Public sector strikers? Shoot them... Oh hang on the MOD budget has been cut to banana republic levels to we can't afford the bullets anymore. Typical eh?

    With appologies to J. clarkson....
  • OK on a serious running rekated matter, anyone here run New York? What's the process for applying as a non-US citizen? Website indicates a ballot process but I seem to recall there was a different route when I last looked for Johny Foreigners like myself... image
  • Hello everybody,

    Hamilton 1 Dundee 6 (SIX) image  Trust me to watch all the pish as we sat at the bottom of the league for the first 10 games and then work every saturday in December when they hit top form and tank their second team in a week.  The 10 goals we have scored in 2 games has doubled our tally for the season!!!!!!!!!!! image

    I've been to Noo Yoik Noo Yoik and ran the marathon Markk (I may have mentioned it once or twice).  The ballot is about as easy to get through as London's i.e. somewhere between zero and none so don't hold your breath unless you like turning a funny purple colour.  When I went I went with 2:09 events and spent fairly silly money to take one of their packages which included a very nice hotel in Noo Yoik Noo Yoik.  I have to say that I didn't get all that much out of travelling with them other than a flight, a wee run on the Friday morning, my race place and my flight home.  I took the flights from Glasgow rather than Heathrow, had to make my own way to my hotel from Newark, didn't catch their 4am courtesy bus to the start designed for stupid foreign people and caught staten island ferry instead which gave me a spare couple of hours of sleep in a nice warm bedroom rather than a freezing cold start village and they didn't have any organised get together after the event for the folk that had travelled with 2:09.  If I did it again I would take their flight and race place only entry.  You will pay a premium for the flight and the race entry where you are pretty much buying a charity golden bond place for yourself with no requirement to raise any cash.  You can then book a hotel in Wall St area at south end of manhatten a few minutes walk from staten island ferry and avoid the worry of having to find your own way to the start and catching corporation busses at 6am or sitting about for 5 hours in the freezing cold at the start.   The hotels near Wall St are much cheaper than the ones near times square or beside the UN where I stayed, handier for the start, as close to most touristy stuff as the others and only a few stops on the underground or a few bucks in a big yellow cab from the night life and the finish in central park. 

    Other than that there is the charity option for New York which is a bit different from London in that the more you raise the more you get paid for you by the charity.  Not sure of exact figures but its something like if you raise a grand you get your race fee paid for you, £2000 you get your hotel and £3000 you get the flights as well.  If you raise enough the charity will basically pay for your holiday.  Its an option (not one I would like to explore) but if you want to do it that way and save your pennies you can.

  • Shocking news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The edinburgh half marathon next year is going to be held in EDINBURGH. image

    http://uk.competitor.com/files/2011/08/EDB-Course-Map-for-Launch1.pdf

    When do you think the marathon will catch onto this weird concept??? image

  • Cann you are BS'ing us with such statements. What next, Edinburgh marathon finishes. In Edinburgh???!!!

    I've been a very stupid boy and been granted a start for the West Highland Way 96 mile ultra next year. I feel better knowing that Bedshaped is equally as daft and will be joining me for the start (and hopefully the finish 35 hours later......)
  • I don't like to boast about it but I'm also a NY veteran.

    I got in through the ballot on my second attempt and my friend, out of jealousy, went with 2:09 events on a race and flight only package that came in about £1,000. We stayed at the Gershwin Hotel on East 27th Street which cost about £100 per night and which was close enough to all the main attractions but it's easy enough to get around on the subway.  To put the 2:09 costs in perspective I paid £330 for flights and about £120 for race entry.

  • I'm in for WHW too......................

  • God a lot of you are fond of a treat. image

    Markk its amazing when a big company like Great Run or Rock'n'roll comes to Edinburgh they seem to get to run in the city no bother at all.  For some reason (pocketing huge profits I'd suspect being the major one) the biggest race of them all can't take part in Edinburgh.  I really can't see the point of them engineering a course to finish at Musselburgh race course if you aren't going to be able to use the race course anymore and the finish of the marathon will be on a school playing field.  If you were coming for overseas to run the edinburgh marathon you would expect a finish a bit more impressive than a high school football pitch.

    Did anybody see the scottish sports awards on the tele last night.  Can you believe that the team of the year wasn't Strathclyde Police's bomb disposal unit for their work at the San Giro and Lennoxtown. image

  • Evening all from. Londonshire and day two of a new Job image

    It costs money to close roads hence I think cash is very much the issue for the Edinburgh farce. Must look at NYC again as more exotic than Aberfeldy.

    Nice one Sue W. Be a bit colder than Commrades I suspect image
  • Evening everybody

    Hope you are all surviving hurricane bawbag.

    Good luck with your new job markk.

    I've been to aberfeldy and new york and would say in terms of interest, shops, tourist attractions and night life they are pretty similar. Just save your pennies and go to aberfeldy image

    Sue good to see you sharing your race plans for next year unlike your "I ran the comrades last week" post from a few weeks back as if the comrades was a leisuely jog round the block image

    Kiwi did I mention we have appointed martin o'neil image

    Hope you are all well.

    C yoll later byeeeeeeeeeeee
  • Hi everyone. As usual I have not been on the thread for a bit and have not read back, so what's been happenning. Have just got back in from a 10k threshold run. Ran 17.5 miles last weekend and it felt pretty good. Building up for the Gloucester Marathon in January, however I am not running this competitively. I'm pacing a coaching colleague of mine who is a 1.17 half marathoner and for some reason can not nail the right pace for marathons. He ran London this year in 3.36 and he is far quicker than that. His pacing is all over the place and too quick so he does himself in. Hopefully we can get him round in sub 3 . This is the catalyst he needs to kick on and run something quicker.

    Catch you all later.

  • Take it easy Kiwi with that sub 3 hour marathon. image

    God how tired am I.  Having fallen asleep watching the tele last night and sleeping for the best part of 13 hours I had a wee trip to the gym and had to hit the stop button after 3 miles as I felt absolutely awful.  Came home and had another half hour snooze. image  Its all a bit strange seeing I haven't actuallty done very much to justify being sooooo tired. image

    Looks like another stormy night is about to hit following hurricane Bawbag last week.  I bet Jackie Bird and Catrina Shearer are worried about what they are going to call the next one seeing as hurricanes are named in alphabetical order.  Anybody know any words starting with the letter C? image

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