We would like to congratulate our FoE runners that took part in the 2008 Albert Bartlett Edinburgh Marathon and Chevrolet Team Relay . 3 teams completed the marathon distance on a cold crisp day in edinburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The results are as follows:

 

Friend of Edusport - 3hrs 28 mins 32 secs
Claire Farrow
Andy  McSweeny
Jouni Ronkainen
Fiona Campbell

Jouni Ronnakinnen provides us a summary of his Hairy Haggis experience:

 

Date:- 25/05/08

Edinburgh Marathon

Venue:- North of the Border (i.e. don't lose sight of valuables)

Pulmont, Scotland.

Time:- Ridix o'clock in the morning (~6 am)

Event:- The 'Hairy Haggis' Relay Marathon.

OK so prior to this date I had promised Miss Campbell to run in the Hairy Haggis Relay Marathon for Friend of EduSport, which seemed like the right thing to do, however severe lack of training for the event meant that I was slightly nervous of the outcome.

Waking up at 6 am on the 25th of May I was feeling a tad tired, but extremely keen to get into Edinburgh for the BIG event, especially since we had been staying in 5 star accommodation and were well rested.

After being to Edinburgh for Hogmanay a few years previous, I was looking forward to the event. Not surprisingly upon our early arrival in Edinburgh there were not too many people up and about, however I could sense the excitement that was about to happen.

We must have been near the start line when the early morning tiredness started to wear off, after a couple of team pics, myself and Tom were off to the buses to get to our start line, about 12 miles from the start. Only once the bus had travelled 45 mins, did I realise how far we as a team we were going to run today. I had obviously pulled the short straw since my relay leg was 8 miles (12.87 km for those of you who have been better educated).

Unfortunately for all of us at relay changeover point 3, we were on the coast which was stunning, but it was bloody freezing in the wind. Therefore before the big kick off, we were sheltering on the buses for warmth. It was a great viewpoint for checking out the 'elite' runners fly past. My event was not to start for another 45 mins or so.

The relay changeover point was a huge hub of activity, people squabbling for places even though ultimately it all depending on when your team member arrived there to handover the timing device. Unfortunately for one charity team, their team member was waiting to hand over the timing device for a good half an hour, oh dear! Out of the Friend of EduSport teams we were in the lead when I got the timing device. So I was not going to let the side down, so blasted my way round the course. It was awesome running along the coast and the highlight was running around 'Gosford House' which was stunning and was quite funny having a continuous stream of runners going through what normally would be a very tranquil and 'posh' place.

Leg three required running back along the path which I came along, which was assisted by the huge tail wind on the way back. It was a great sight to see Miss Campbell at the changeover point, which meant that running was over for the day. She obviously landed the glory run and I think the rest of the team had built up enough of a lead for her to hold onto the lead over the other Friend of EduSport teams :)

Great day out even though next time (31st May 2009) it would be more considerate of the organisers to schedule the event on a day when the temperature was a good few degrees higher.

Thanks for the day

JR - Leg 3

"Dream barriers look very high until someone climbs them. They are not barriers anymore." - Lasse Viren