I am giving a one star for everything in the hopes that the marathon might contact me. I paid for an itab in advance and they didn't send it out to me. Now I cannot contact them because they took off every possible contact. I can't buy it again because it's not available In their shop. Thanks.

Having seen horror stories about the logistics I was pretty nervous about getting to the marathon from Seton Sands. It was fine for me but some half marathon runners missed the 8am start. Found the access to toilets very good and stewards ensuring the queues moved quickly really helped in comparison to other events I've done. Race itself was not very enjoyable purely because of how hot it was. Crowd support was really good as people were using sprinklers and water pistols to keep us school. I thought there were more water stations compared to say Chester Marathon but still perhaps not enough given the heat. I very quickly used all the water in my hydration pack so others must have struggled more. Main gripe would be around the finish. The goody bag to start with was so stingy. One water bottle even though people were getting heat stroke. One nutrition bar. For comparison I think I had several snacks in the Chester Marathon one and that marathon costs less. Getting out of Musselburgh was a nightmare. The town is not set up to cope with that amount of people. I'm so glad I advised my family to not meet me at the end because having children there as well would have been a nightmare.

A really beautiful course which allows the sights of Edinburgh to be enjoyed during the early miles and then runs alongside the coast, passing through Musselburgh, for the remainder. The support was excellent in the populated areas but there were also some nice parts where it was quieter, which I really like (as you don't get them in some of the major city marathons like London). Yes, it was undoubtedly hot, and that affected performance, but I am not sure that moving the date is the answer, otherwise all the UK marathons would be in March/April and September/October. Although there were regular water stations, in light of the weather forecast, increasing so they were every 2 miles could be useful. The start was surprisingly quiet with just a countdown every minute leading up to it. Maybe, some more music or people on microphones interviewing the runners or spectators could have improved this as it was a little flat. In terms of the finish, I had read the reviews from previous years about the mayhem so I left promptly and managed to get on one of the first buses. This meant that it was about 45 minutes back to the city. However, this meant that I missed out on the fun at the finish. The bus system does need looking at

The start line was very well organised and we got away very quickly. The race was clearly signposted, but needed more water stations given the weather. Some excellent support from locals throughout. I probably won’t do it again though, as the end is chaos. It’s miles from Edinburgh. Sweltering hot, little shade and one small bottle of water (albeit with an electrolyte tablet) given, and lengthy queues for expensive water. There’s also no phone signal, so it’s really hard to work out how to escape. Your choice is essentially one train every hour, that will likely require queuing for around 2 hours on tired legs, or the slowest bus of your life, due to traffic and roadworks. They’ll probably get away with it, due to its “fastest marathon” marketing and Edinburgh is a lovely city. But until local officials work out how to improve transport to and from the finish line and phone signal, I’ll give it a miss.

2nd time doing the Edinburgh Marathon, and it has been sweltering hot both times I have taken part. The organisers can't do anything about the weather, but they could have had some run through showers (which the same organisers have for the Half Marathon in Glasgow), relying on people with hoses in their front gardens is far from ideal. There also should have been, at a minimum, one additional water station. The bag drop closed about 15 minutes before the race start, so not sure what someone would have done if they had baggage and arrived after that? The bus prices are a rip off for spectators and runners, and the walk to the park and ride is a joke after running 26.2 miles. Public buses (Lothian Buses) do run separately, but they can take even longer, up to 2 hours due to traffic and multiple stops as this is just a standard commuter service. Having a finish line so far from the city centre is less than ideal for runners and their supporters, so it can only really be to minimise the disruption to residents from road closures. At the finish I got pulled up after trying to re-enter the meeting area by the 'wrong' route, although even the staff member acknowledged that there was literally no signage to indicate specific entrance or exit routes. May is not a great time for this Marathon, as it is often warm. Edinburgh is convenient location wise for me, but I won't be back. On to Chester in October!

Unfortunately nothing really stood out! I was nervous because it was my first marathon and the temperature was going to be relatively hot. There were few water stations considering the weather forecast. Thank goodness for the kind locals spraying people en route. One unsympathetic white haired female steward shrugged her shoulders when I pleaded for water : there wasn’t any left with 8 miles to go. Really unhelpful and demoralising. It felt like the stewards wanted to pack up and go! There was a lack of atmosphere at the beginning. I have been to many running festivals where the atmosphere has been joyous and uplifting but this was flat. Occasional clapping but no loud music or enthusiastic voice over the tannoy getting everyone in the mood. The walk to get the bus to the park and ride at the end added further misery. A good mile away, uphill! A festival suggests a gathering of like minded people wanting to create a memorable experience, but this for me will be remembered for the wrong reasons!

The atmosphere was great. However, a couple of things were poor: The queues for the ladies' toilets were appalling, and at any given point they were several times the length of those for the men's toilets. I waited around 20min close to the start of the race. Unacceptable in my opinion. Sadly, this is pretty much expected at those kinds of events now. Will any race organiser ever make an attempt to tackle this and provider more ladies' toilets? Also, the race finish in Mussleburgh did not work well. I had pre-booked a bus ticket, and as I left the race area, I was told that it would be a 25min walk to the bus. Come on, people had just run 42km, and then they are told they have to walk for 25min? The alternative was to pay for a bus that left close to the race area, which I did, meaning I paid extra. Said bus was then stuck in traffic for a good 30min to get out of Mussleborough. Plus there were later bus stops in the town with huge crowds of people who were clearly struggling to get on the very busy busses. Much room for improvement.

My first ever marathon and unfortunately without major changes I wouldn’t consider running Edinburgh marathon again. The biggest issue is the finish. The town of Musselburgh is not suitable for having such a large number of people pass through it. This means getting back to Edinburgh after the race is very difficult and arduous. This isn’t just provision - the organisers put on buses, but the roads and transport links just aren’t able to cope with the influx of people. In addition, despite being told that organisers would “do their best to ensure that bags were kept dry”, bags were left in the middle of an open field, with no covering. Secondly, the race lacks infrastructure that may not be expected of a small club event, but of a major city marathon I would expect. For example, the ability to track runners via a website / app as they progress through the course, or a lack of pacers. There were also condition specific issues too. It was very windy during the marathon, and communications had mentioned that this meant some banners and other overhead decoration of the course would not be put up due to safety. However, the communication didn’t mention that this included the lettered flags in the reunion zone after the race - quite an important thing to know when trying to plan meeting up with spectators after the event. Overall, it feels like the marathon has got too big for the infrastructure and course as it is currently set.

As an Edinburgh local, I have done the EMF for the last three years and I find it is getting progressively worse, in fact I’m quite embarrassed by how poorly managed the finishing area is. Last year the rain was torrential and the bag area wasn’t covered so everything was wet. However my issue with every year is the transport back to the city. This year there was a dangerous bottleneck at the playing fields with literally thousands of spectators and runners trying to get in and out a very small gap in the fence. There was a woman in a wheelchair who had hardly moved in about 20 minutes who was in the middle of the crowd which felt dangerous. There was no signal so trying to get in touch with anyone is impossible. If I hadn’t of push passed (as I had to meet someone later) it would have taken me well over an hour to move about 50m. Even though I live in central Edinburgh it took me over 2 hours to get home. I won’t be competing at the EMF again. It’s so unorganised and the finishing area is a complete chaos.

My first half marathon so it will always hold a special place. Also returned for 2025. What a buzz. The first bit is the best, down the mound and out towards Arthur's Seat. After that it's a bit boring but there's an insane amount of crowd support. Flat and fast route. Ideal first event. Fantastic aid stations. Don't book the bus back to town. Instead hop on the Lothian bus, they lay on loads of them, it's £2 and they are right at the finish line (closer than the ones you pre-book). Just be warned with all the road closures it takes at least an hour so put warm clothes in your drop bag. Oh and use a waterproof drop bag. Note the finish area is very congested.