Grantham Running Club take part in the Edinburgh marathon festival

Three members of Grantham Running Club set off on an expedition up north to enjoy the wonderful sights and atmosphere that Edinburgh has to offer in abundance during its marathon festival.

The event takes place over two consecutive days with junior, 5k and 10k races being followed 24 hours later by a half, full and team relay marathon.

The half and full marathons follow the same route initially, starting on Potterow, running down Princess Road, past Holyrod Palace, Scottish Parliament and Arthur's Seat.

The route then heads down to Portabello beach and follows the coast with a long stretch out and back, finishing in Musselburg, with the half having a shorter out and back.

Robin Atter was representing GRC in the half marathon and a downpour of rain ensured a soggy and cool start to the day's proceedings.

A slight Achilles tendon niggle in the final 5k slowed Robin slightly who finished with a very respectable time of 1:34:08, especially when taking into account his previous day's walking mileage which is good preparation for his upcoming Race to the Stones Ultra 100K in the summer.

The full marathon also kicked off in rainy conditions and Mark Angeloni started strongly, enjoying the early miles and marathon experience.

A recurring injury unfortunately caused him great difficulties but with grit and determination he refused to give in, changing to a running and walking strategy and finished in 3:49:47.

Also taking on the full marathon distance, Jo Grace was hoping to take advantage of the cooler conditions and set off for an ambitiously aimed pace.

Working hard early on, she was making good progress and on target at the halfway point, however, these efforts caught up with her in the later miles.

Jo also had to resort to a walking and running plan to get to the finish line in 4:09:49 which was a significant improvement on last year's time.