The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Another 3 miles for this kilted runner in today's Rock'n Roll Half Marathon in Edinburgh today, but he was doing rather well considering his apparel.

It was an ideal morning for running: sunny, and quite chilly. The route took in Holyrood Park, the beach at Portobello and the Old Town before reaching this spot on the Meadows and then continuing back to the Royal Mile, with a finish in the Park.

There were not too many spectators at this point nor were there many big lenses on display, and although I bumped into Lady Marchmont, she was being very coy about unsheathing her camera.

His Lordship and I had been thinking of taking the bikes on the car today and cycling to Gifford, but there was a ring of road closures in operation round the Dower House from 8am, so without too much angst we downgraded our activities to a coffee and a read of someone else's Sunday papers in a nearby cafe.

How are the mighty fallen indeed.
I always feel slightly sad when I watch a run like this and remember how it felt to trip the light fantastic over the tarmac with spectators cheering me on.
But there again, when I saw some of the pain etched on many faces in the middle of the race, I remembered the other side of the coin - the more realistic one for me.

As we made our way to the cafe, there were women WALKING the route over two and a half hours later, still with 3+ miles left. Maybe that's the way to go.