Edinburgh Athletic Club

Haddington Half Marathon Race Report By Richard Meade
 
Following a whole day of thick heavy rain on Friday and a Saturday
morning lost in a mist of showers the signs for the Haddington Half were
not good. Someone in East Lothian, however, must have a hotline to the
person upstairs, as 20 minutes before the start the rain disappeared,
the grey clouds parted and the sun shone rather brightly. At this point
I felt rather silly warming up with my bin bag raincoat and quickly
stashed it away.  Over 200 people, the majority looked slightly
bewildered, and blinking in the unexpected brightness took to the start
line before being set off by the starting gun (or horn, as I believe it
was).
 
For me the Haddington Half was a tough course, with a mixture of short
sharp hills and long undulated stretches. Although the sky no longer
spat at us, the skin of rain that it had left on the roads earlier made
the course quite slippy in places and I never felt comfortable with my
stride. The occasional gust of wind that always seemed to find my front
didn’t make things any easier either. I did feel strong on the hills and
made good progress on them, but that progress was quickly lost on the
flat stretches and the people I’d passed on the hills soon caught up
with me. This has told me that my strength and endurance is good, but I
need to work on my speed. Time to up my speed sessions I think! It was,
however, a very scenic course and quite an enjoyable run. Quiet B roads,
surrounded by green fields and tall trees made for picturesque running,
the like that belong in Runners’ World. There was even a bridge and a
stream to cross. This combined with a good spattering of local
supporters to cheer us on, well placed and numerous marshals, and cup of
hot tea and a selection of cakes to enjoy at the end made the Haddington
Half a really good event and one to look out for next year. 
 
Edinburgh Athletics was well represented in the race and enjoyed
considerable success. Alastair Hennessy led the way finishing fourth in
a time of 1.17.41, Martin Ferguson came 6th in 1.18.42 and collected the
Male Over 40′s prize on the way. Steve Booth followed in 8th place in
1.21.29 and together they won the team prize for the club, 12 bottles of
organic beer (for the healthy drinker!!). I finished a little further
back in 12th place in 1.23.48, and followed by Brian Howie in 1.34.02,
Walter McCaskey won the over 60′s prize finishing in 1.39. Other EAC
finishers included Eric Stevenson in 1.40, and Alastair Jack in 2.34.
The race was won by David Kirkland of Alnwick Harriers in 1.12. 38 and
the first female was Lucy Colquhon of Carnethy in 1.24.06. On finishing
Lucy announced that the race was a warm up for a 4 hour hill race the
next day!!!!
 
Incidentally the rains started again as the last of the runners were
finishing… leaving me to wonder just what powers are at work in
Haddington.