The start area of the marathon was well organised  bag drop easy to find plenty of toilets and uni buildings to shelter away from the awful rain we had at the start. First 4 miles take you through the centre of Edinburgh past the castle and down the Royal Mile past the Scottish Parliament building then along the bottom of Arthur's Seat down towards the seafront. Then most of the race takes you along the coast road out Portobello to Musselburgh where you pass the finish then head out for a 16 mile out and back along the coast road to the finish. All in all I found the race to be well organised the weather conditions were a bit tough at times heading back to the finish in a strong headwind with bright sunshine to which I found later I had sunburn. Plenty of food stalls at the finish area and beer tent, it was also nice to be able to get a shower afterwards too. There were local buses and event buses to take you back to Edinburgh and the train too although the event buses and train were a good 25 minute walk away to Wallyford Park & ride. Bags were on trucks beside the finish. The Edinburgh Marathon is definitely a race I would recommend to but can be quite hard depending on weather conditions.