One last thing
Tuesday, May 24, 2011{IMPORTANT UPDATE: When this post was first published, for a couple of hours it may have looked like I had used - oh God I can barely say it - Comic Sans in part of it. I would like to apologise for this horrendous misunderstanding and reassure you that I would NEVER DO THAT. I have standards, you know.}
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| Edinburgh looking all glamorous. Image: Tim Caynes |
There was one other little snippet from the race on Sunday that I thought you might appreciate. Unfortunately, I was busy falling into a wine-and-pizza coma when I wrote that last post and completely neglected to mention it.
The Edinburgh Marathon relay, or Hairy Haggis relay as it is officially known*, is split into four legs. The race starts in the centre of Edinburgh high above Holyrood Palace and sweeps down to the coast, through the coastal towns of Prestonpans (site of a famous Scottish battle) and Cockenzie (site of the aforementioned ugly power station) and out into the East Lothian countryside, before turning back and finishing alongside the turf of Musselburgh racecourse. Calling it the Edinburgh Marathon is actually a bit of a stretch, since you're only in Edinburgh for about 3 miles, but that's beside the point.
Instead of just being numbered from one to four, each relay leg has been given a suitably descriptive name to add that little je ne sais quoi. These are the legs my team mates ran:
The Edinburgh Marathon relay, or Hairy Haggis relay as it is officially known*, is split into four legs. The race starts in the centre of Edinburgh high above Holyrood Palace and sweeps down to the coast, through the coastal towns of Prestonpans (site of a famous Scottish battle) and Cockenzie (site of the aforementioned ugly power station) and out into the East Lothian countryside, before turning back and finishing alongside the turf of Musselburgh racecourse. Calling it the Edinburgh Marathon is actually a bit of a stretch, since you're only in Edinburgh for about 3 miles, but that's beside the point.
Instead of just being numbered from one to four, each relay leg has been given a suitably descriptive name to add that little je ne sais quoi. These are the legs my team mates ran:
The Royal Leg
Visions of grand palaces and craggy castles, historic monuments and stately townhouses. Edinburgh at its majestic best.
The Gosford Leg
A vast country mansion, revelling in its surroundings of manicured lawns and unnaturally-shaped hedges, oozing elegance and money and delicious scandal.
The Glory Leg
A runner approaches the finish, chest forward, arms raised, face to the sky. The cheers swell, the clouds break and the sun shines down upon the track as the runner crosses the line, exhausted but triumphant, basking in the glory of her momentous achievement.
All very evocative names, no? And what leg, you might wonder, was I lucky enough to run? The Ocean Leg? The Sunshine Leg? The Victory Leg?
Er, no.
I ran the Cock and Pan Leg.
(That's genuinely what it was called.)
Thanks, Edinburgh Marathon. Thanks a lot.
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| Cockenzie Power Station. Isn't she charming? Image: Gavin Proc |
*When I first got my race number I couldn't understand why there were dancing potatoes with legs across the top, until someone pointed out that they were actually running haggises [haggii?]. Of course they were. Because potatoes with legs would just be silly.
8 boats moored
Thanks for the link to the Ban Comic Sans website, as only just this morning I was moaning to my husband about people using it in their email signatures and how it should be banned.
ReplyDeleteOh man; I love those names. The Baltimore marathon relay legs are named, creatively, "1" "2" "3" and "4".
ReplyDeleteThat settles it. I will need to run the Edinburgh marathon.
At least you didn't do the 'cop out and stay at home' leg!
ReplyDeletebah-ha-ha...fail on the names.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that haggises ran on all fours. I see they're progressing, in evolutionary terms, to being bipeds. I'm not sure if that's worrying, but it probably should be.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame. You clearly deserved the Glory Leg. AT THE VERY LEAST you deserved the Gosford. But you know what? Cock and Pan makes the absolute best story. So you've got that!
ReplyDeletePS - Congrats on completing the race! How cool is that?
PPS - When I saw that picture at the bottom of the post, my first thought was OH MY GOD HOW DID THEY GET A PICTURE OF THAT LITTLE TEENY CLOUD RAINING DIRECTLY INTO THOSE SMOKE... STACKS... Oh. Right. Ahem.
Massive amounts of well done to you! Hilariously named leg notwithstanding - you did it!! I don't think I will ever be fit enough to run even part of a marathon so am in huge awe of anyone who can (I blame all those years of smoking - disgusting habit I don't know why I ever did it!)
ReplyDeleteHe he i totally did not know each leg had a different name!
ReplyDelete