Edinburgh Marathon Festival 2022 becomes biggest sports participation event in Scottish history

This year’s Edinburgh Marathon Festival became the biggest sports participation event in Scottish history, with 40,000 runners taking part in the weekend’s events.

Across the weekend, Scotland’s running festival featured eleven races including a marathon, half marathon, team relay, 10k and 5k, plus six junior events.

On Sunday, both Scottish and international runners ran one of the world’s fastest marathon courses, where they battled it out for the top prize.

Runners were set off by celebrity baker Mary Berry, of Great British Bake Off fame, who was the Official Starter for the event.

Matthew Gillette secured first place in the marathon, with a winning time of two hours, 17 minutes and 57 seconds.

Afterwards, he said: “Our friends were looking to book a vacation in Scotland when we discovered there was a marathon on in Edinburgh this weekend. We signed up last year and thought “alright let’s do it!”

“This was a great course! I’ve ran two marathons so far and this course was flat and had great views - I loved it!”

Runners in the Edinburgh marathon run through the four mile mark in the Craigentinny area on Sunday morning.

The women’s race was dominated by Virginie Barrand, Metro Aberdeen RC, who won with a time of two hours 45 minutes and 3 seconds.

She said: “Yeah it was really good fun, we couldn’t have got a better day for it - no wind at all, sunshine, not too hot, great atmosphere - there were people cheering us the whole way which was really nice.

"I had a pace I wanted to stick to, so the first 3-4 miles were quite fast then I just had to keep going.”

Durham’s Kieran Walker sprinted on the final straight to take victory in Sunday morning’s half marathon with a winning time of one hour 5 minutes and 19 seconds.

Rebecca Burns, who took first place in Sunday's half marathon/

Kieran said: “It’s the first time I’ve ran in the Edinburgh Half Marathon, and I’ve ended up with a PB which is great! Really perfect conditions, probably one of the best halfs I’ve ever done, and I’ve raced a few!

Rebecca Burns of Pitreavie AAC was the winner in the women’s race with a time of one hour 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

She said: “I loved it! It’s my first proper half marathon, it was a great course and really fast."

Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park played host to Saturday’s events, with the 10k, 5k and junior races kicking off the festival’s line up. Over 1000 children took part in the junior races.

Neil Kilgour, Edinburgh Marathon Festival Director, said: "After what’s been a tough couple of years for everyone, It was incredible to see tens of thousands of participants back in Edinburgh, raising millions for good causes.

“We are so proud to host a truly world class running event in Scotland’s capital for runners of all ages from across the globe. Congratulations to everyone who took part. Thanks for making the 2022 Edinburgh Marathon Festival the biggest sports participation event in Scotland’s history. Come and see us again next year!"

Entries for the 2023 Edinburgh Marathon Festival, which takes place on Bank Holiday Weekend, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th May, are open with an early bird discount for everyone who registers before midnight on Sunday 12th June at www.edinburghmarathon.com