Portobello Beach Race 2024

After a weekend of never ending haar, the mist cleared a little on Sunday in time for the Porty beach race. To be honest I’m glad we WEREN’T baking in sunshine like the rest of Scotland as it made for quite pleasant running conditions!

My friend and I did a few WERC style warm ups along the prom (there were a few bemused glances at two middle aged women skipping along by the amusements) and then head down to the seafront to the start line.

A quick briefing and then we were off. The sand was fairly hard going- the parallel ripples threatening to turn my ankles on every step. After a recent achilles injury, I resolved to take it easy and enjoy the ride.  We head towards Joppa first- running around the seaward ends of the groynes to get a thorough soaking! We turned and I was briefly joined by my pal and her miniature schnauzer which provided a welcome boost.

My shoelaces, despite being double knotted, then decided to untie themselves as they were heavy and wet, so I had a brief pause while I sorted myself out. I recommend tucking them inside your shoes or getting some triathlete style elastic ones for this race.

A couple of miles (felt like many more) to the cat and dog home and another turn back to the finish. At this stage I had sand in my shoes, my laces had untied themselves 3 times and I found I had to concentrate hard on not falling over – despite all of this I was having a great time.  Although very much looking forward to the finish!

My friend cheered me past the finish line and we head for a coffee at Miros. My attention was immediately diverted to the home baking stand on the way where I made a small donation towards a very delicious scone with strawberries and cream. My WERC t-shirt then drew the admiration of Slaw, one of the Portobello RC run leaders, Alan and Dom’s old club, who sent his best and we had a bit of a chat about the race.

Great fun,  friendly race.  Definitely recommend but strengthen those ankles and get some decent shoelaces!

Race Report : Tiffany Ronaldson (West Edinburgh Running Club)