The Edinburgh Half-marathon (part 2)

Hello again!
So this morning I got up at 6.10am, got into my lycra, pinned on my race number and caught the bus in to town in preparation for the race start at 8am.
The start area was well organised with lots of great big lorries to take our bags to the finishing line, loads of loos, and runners grouped for the start by estimated finishing time.  I was in the purple (last!) group with lots of other running beans.  The weather was beautiful - blue skies, warm but not too warm with a slight breeze.

Me feeling rather nervous about 10 minutes before the start of the race.

The race officially started at 8am but my group crossed the line at 8.10am, when the fancy timing chip embedded in our race number started tracking our progress.

The view ahead of me at the start.

Once the race got underway, it took a lot of concentration to stick to my planned pace and not get carried away by the adrenaline or the fact that the first mile was pretty much all downhill! By this time it was much warmer with bright sunlight; by far the hottest I've run in this year (seem to have spent most of this year running amid snow or frost!).  There was amazing support from people watching the race from the beginning and all the way through which made a massive difference, from cheers and clapping and bashing of pots and pans, to wee boys in Musselburgh setting up their own extra water station, to many well-wishers handing out Haribo :D.
The first 5 miles passed in an absolute blur and before I knew it I was on the esplanade at Portobello.  The sky was blue, the beach was golden and the views across to Fife and along to East Lothian were just beautiful.  There was even a group of Japanese drummers playing to spur us on!
After Portobello we arrived in Musselburgh and that's when I started to feel it in my hips and feet, and the hard work started. Fortunately by this point it had clouded over a bit and wasn't so hot.  I also confirmed my suspicion about my incapability to run whilst holding and drinking from a water bottle -I usually use a water backpack - although the extra water was very welcome most of it ended up in my nose or down my front :D.
The last stretch of the race took us through Musselburgh  past the racecourse and out the other side, before turning back and heading for the finish line after 13.1 miles.

Kasia met me after the finish 

So my provisional time (texted to me after the race - so hi-tech!) was 2:07:52, which I'm really pleased with.  Yay!

Check the medal!!

And then came breakfast :D

Yum

Thank you Em!

Gone!

A massive thank you to everyone who cheered me on during the race including all my friends and family for their moral support before, during and after.  It made such a huge difference and I appreciate it so much.
I also want to say a HUMUNGOUS thank you to more incredible sponsors: Magda, Ina, Janusz, Ania, Marek, Claire, Sylvia, Joe, Emma, Kay, Neil, Ali, Susan and Pauline - you are all amazing :D.