martinlittle.com:thinkThin

On Sunday I did my stint as a marshall for the Edinburgh Marathon. I was stationed at the crossroads of Mountcastle Drive North and Duddingston Road, just after the water stop at mile 24 ... and at the top of a hill. My suspicion was that there would be a fair number of people in real pain at the top of the hill particularly given the incredibly hot and sunny weather, so I organised a radio just in case. Thankfully I didn't need to use it once in an emergency.

Despite my face and back of legs getting a little sunburnt (you can see where I missed with the sunscreen) and my left wrist which was facing up for 5 hours of clapping being slightly pink, time absolutely flew past. For the first few hours my post had a reasonable number of spectators who did get behind the athletes. As time passed they slowly drifted off though, and some of the last runners who really needed cheering on would have sorely missed the encouragement.

It was an interesting experience being a spectator and not running. One of the biggest tips I gave a few weeks ago when I talked at Run 4 It (I was the novice runner) was to get your name on the front of your running top in big, easily read letters. I think I managed to cheer on everyone whose name I could read with one exception (see next sentence), but some people had tiny writing; it was a good lesson to see in action. There were a lot of people wearing headphones, and I didn't shout on them. You really must miss so much of the atmosphere doing that.

If the marathon happens again next year, I'll definitely be willing to help again, assuming I don't go crazy and think I could actually run it. There really are too many hills.

Well done to everyone who completed, including my friend Polly!