Meadows Marathon

View across the Meadows towards Salisbury Crags (left) and Arthur's Seat

The Meadows Marathon is a non-profit annual charity Half Marathon and five km fun run. It takes place annually in The Meadows on the first Sunday in March. It is the largest event organised by Edinburgh Students' Charities Appeal.^[1]

History

The Meadows Marathon was created in 2007 by two students at the University of Edinburgh. Raising £10,000 in its inaugural year from 250 runners, the last event raised over £30,000 from 850 runners. Although completely organised by students at university in Edinburgh, the event draws participants from a variety of backgrounds. Anyone can compete in the event.^[2]

Unusual Elements

The Meadows Marathon is unusual in that the course takes the form of several laps rather than a linear format. The course has varied from year to year, but generally comprises eight laps of the Meadows in central Edinburgh. The laps allow for the regular use of a single water station, as well as the provision of entertainment from university societies.^[3]

Fundraising

The goal of the Meadows Marathon is to maximise the money raised by runners, rather than maximise money raised by runner registrations. To this end, the Meadows Marathon has dedicated staff to help runners raise sponsorship money, and promotes a range of charities on a local, national, and international scale.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Meadows Marathon Home Page". http://meadowsmarathon.org.uk/site/. 
2. ^ "Event History". http://meadowsmarathon.org.uk/site/about. 
3. ^ "Course Map". http://meadowsmarathon.org.uk/site/on-the-day. 
4. ^ "Running For Charity". http://meadowsmarathon.org.uk/site/for-charity. 

External links

• Meadows Marathon - Event Website
• Edinburgh Students' Charities Appeal - Edinburgh Students' Charities Appeal
• Friends of The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links (contains Java applet)

Photos

• From Dave Henniker's Edinburgh site
• Flickr Group