Edinburgh Half-marathon, 24th May 2026
Recent award-winner Mark Flynn tells more tales of success from a sticky Edinburgh:
“Well once again Claremont were out on our adventures. This time four of us tackled the Edinburgh half-marathon course with myself, the ever speedy Lena Lou, Laurie and Cate proudly donning the sky blue to represent north of the border. For me this one was particularly special as it was my hometown run.
The 8am start time made for a few bleary eyes as we attempted to gather at the start line for group photos. We managed a few in smaller groups at both start and finish. However, the start time did assist in making the first few miles running round some of the more historic parts of Central Edinburgh a bit cooler (a luxury we would not be afforded in later miles).
Although this is a fairly flat and quick course there were still a few inclines. Luckily we were spared the largest of all Edinburghs inclines, instead doing a little out and back around the base of the famous Arthur’s Seat (this out and back would be the last time I saw Laurie and Cate, as they built up speed in an impressive outing).
The route then took us out along the coast heading for Musselburgh and the eventual finish line, and with the heat building and Musselburgh raceecourse in sight I felt like I was flying… until I looked at my watch to discover there were still another 3.5 miles or so left. With runners dropping like flies in the heat, we were faced with what felt like the longest out and back I’ve ever seen, which took us out to Prestonpans before running us back to the finish line.
It was also at this point I realised my left nipple had exploded and my beautiful sky-blue Claremont vest had a lovely red circle on it. So the vest came off and the miles went on. It was at this stage I saw the world’s fastest Lena coming the other way, fully focused and on her way to another PB.
The vest came back on for the last 2km so I could cross the line in Claremont blue and a PB to boot (a small one), and medals round necks we all headed back to the buses and home to hopefully not-so-sunny Newcastle.”
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 1098 | Lena Lou | 1:44:31 |
| 2421 | Laurie Johnson | 1:55:54 |
| 2428 | Cate Walker | 1:55:56 |
| 2465 | Mark Flynn | 1:56:10 |
