Edinburgh Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Edinburgh Marathon is the main race of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival, held over a weekend in late May. The festival also includes a half marathon, a four-person relay, a 10K in Holyrood Park on the Saturday, a 5K and junior races. The marathon is a point-to-point course that starts in the centre of Edinburgh at Potterrow and finishes at Musselburgh Racecourse, with the finish area on the playing fields at Pinkie St Peter's Primary School. According to the organisers it passes the Royal Mile, Holyrood Park and the Scottish Parliament before heading east into East Lothian along the Firth of Forth, past Prestonpans, Cockenzie and Port Seton, round Gosford House and back through Musselburgh. The festival was founded by Geoff Sims and first held on 15 June 2003, when it drew about 3,000 participants; the current route was introduced in 2007. The organisers say the course was voted the fastest marathon in the UK by Runner's World. The marathon starts at 10:00 on Sunday 30 May 2027, with the half marathon at 8:00.