Edinburgh Marathon breaks records

AROUND 100,000 people turned out to watch the largest ever Edinburgh Marathon wind through the streets yesterday.

This year's Marathon was twice the size of the previous year's event, with 13,000 runners taking part and around 10,000 people turning up at the finish line at Musselburgh Racecourse.

The fastest man was 33-year-old athletics coach Paul McNamara, from Gallway in Ireland, who completed the race in two hours and 25 minutes.

The feat was compounded by the fact that it was only the Athenry Athletics Club coach's second Marathon.

Still fresh from the race in his red and white vest and blue shorts, and sporting a pair of now well-trodden running shoes, he said: "I didn't necessarily set out to win – I just went out with the aim of running very fast."

His prize for coming first was the "Tattie Trophy", a gold-plated potato on a plinth, awarded by this year's sponsors, root vegetable packing firm Albert Bartlett.

Paul said: "It did raise an eyebrow when they presented an Irishman with a potato after travelling 26 miles on foot. I'd say it was bordering on discrimination!"

The fastest Scot was Kirkcaldy-born Chris Wilson, 25, a Phd physics student at the University of West Scotland, who came sixth overall with a time of 2:29:57. He said: "I feel amazing. The legs aren't feeling too bad so I must have given them a good warm-up in training.

"The race was fine apart from the wind, which we were running against most of the race.

"However, being a physicist, I know the best way to reduce wind resistance is to put something in the way, so I spent most of the race running behind one of the guys who came eighth I think.

"I used him as a wind break and then sneaked out from behind him when the wind turned. A wee bit cheeky but it's all about tactics at the end of the day."

The wind was a steady 17mph, with westerly gusts of up to 30mph causing trouble for many of the east-bound runners.

Marathon spokesman Damien O'Looney said: "One of our elite runners who came in the top ten told me the wind cost him about seven to eight minutes.

"When they got to about the 18-mile mark around about the Prestonpans area they turned around and headed back to Musselburgh, where the wind would have been on their backs.

"Some of the runners were actually getting better times on the later laps with tired legs but with the wind behind them. One elite runner told me he did the 18th mile in 6m12s and the 19th mile in 5m12s, which give you an indication of just how hard it was for them out there.

"Apart from the wind, the day was a fabulous success."

The fastest woman was Blackburn Harriers runner Pauline Powell with a time of 2:47:57, followed around 15 minutes later by fleet-footed Scotswoman Dianne Lauder of Borders running club the Gala Harriers.

Aside from the serious runners, many participants showed up in fancy dress outfits.

One man even kitted himself out as a rhino, while another notable appearance was made by a Womble.

Despite the headwind, the day did produce one world record breaker in the form of lycra-clad Spiderman impersonator Ian Sharman, who shaved ten minutes off his own world record for the fastest costumed Marathon runner, coming in at just under three hours.

The race took its toll on some runners with a total of 78 people treated at the scene by paramedics and St John Ambulance staff. Four people, including a woman who collapsed on the finish line, had to be taken to hospital.

The casualties were suffering everything from blisters to sunburn and dehydration.

The four people taken to hospital had "underlying medical conditions". There were 80 medical staff on hand.

Last year, three people – one runner and two spectators – were taken to hospital during the event.