Edinburgh 2008, my first Marathon                                            

I’m 18 miles in, and wondering, if waiting till I was 50 years old to attempt my first marathon was such a wise idea. Things up till then had been going well as the miles ticked by, all the pre-race advice from the Genius aka D. Parker and my mentor Eileen Masson had been adhered to, well nearly!, earlier I had for some reason missed the mile markers at 1, 2 & 4 miles which I was to find out later was a common problem with many of the other runners, this cobbled with a slightly downhill start saw me hitting the coast at around 5 miles slightly ahead of my 3hrs 13min schedule.

Running into a strong headwind is never good for a laugh but with the great atmosphere being generated by the spectators and some wise packing by the runners I was soon rattling off my 7:20 splits. Everyone around me seemed to be up for it chatting amicably between breaths and urging each other on, a mention here for Callum McKerral, husband of Lesley for his words of encouragement. Anyway! Back to 18 miles and I’m looking forward to the turn back along the coastal road, a tail wind and the run for home when the organisers in their wisdom took us off road and onto half a mile of dirt track around stately Gasford House, which on re-emerging onto the road left me heavy legged and feeling my burgeoning blisters. Also where did the tail wind disappear to?

 Nearing 20 miles found me digging in as they say and sticking to the plan, receiving a great  boost from big Neal  shouting my name at the top of his lungs as he past in the opposite direction running with Caroline.

 23 miles, I had never run as far or felt as tired.

 24 miles and I was consecutively running and walking trying to shake the numbness out of my legs focusing on all the positives, all the well wishers at the club, phone calls from my running mates, thumbs up from family and friends, all the help during training from the guys, especially from Eileen Masson who through injury was unable to run but had still came to support me.

 25 miles and I can see the roof of the Musselburgh grandstand at the finish, no walking from now on, easily finding the remaining strength to get me over the line. 

3: 13: 56 or there about.

I was forewarned of the flood of feeling that would wash over me at the finish but did not expect the welling up of emotion on seeing my beautiful wife Christine waiting for me in the reunion area.  

Robert Allison