City grants a reprieve to Marathon in the Meadows

Published on Tuesday 3 February 2009 08:53

THE Meadows Marathon has been granted a last-minute reprieve, despite other events in the area being banned.

Organisers had feared they would have to cancel the race, as the city council was planning a moratorium on all events to allow the Meadows to recover from over-use.

But city council officials decided that the half-marathon could take place on March 15, provided runners stick to the paths.

Marquees also have to be erected on tarmac, rather than on the grass.

Students from Edinburgh University, who organise the event, hope more than 1000 runners will take part.

Last year more than 800 people completed the race, raising more than 40,000 for charities.

Sally Hutchby, one of the organisers, said they had been concerned they were running out of time to organise the race. They had initially been told the council would make a decision on whether it could go ahead before Christmas.

She said: "We're really relieved it can go ahead. We've opened registration now and we've got 100 entries already. We've already had a lot of interest, and five charities have signed up to be 'gold supporters', with 30 or 40 runners each.

"It was really important that we knew as soon as possible, as it takes a lot of organisation and it's less than six weeks until the event."

She said runners would not damage the grass, as they only ran on the paths.

Adam Ramsey, president of the Edinburgh University Students' Association, added: "It's a great event and it raised a massive amount of money for charity last year."

The marathon supports five main charities: Scottish Love in Action, Four Square, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, the Meningitis Research Foundation and Barnardo's Scotland. It also supports Comic Relief, which receives any surplus from the entrance fees.

The city council is trying to give the Meadows a rest this year, to allow the ground time to recover following years of activity. The move follows calls by campaigners for a two-year moratorium on large events at the park, after sections were left badly churned up with mud following last year's festival season.

The popular Taste of Edinburgh food festival, which took place in 2007 and 2008, will now be held at Inverleith Park from May 28-31.

There are also doubts about the use of the Meadows for big Fringe events, such as the Chinese State Circus and the Lady Boys of Bangkok.

A city council spokesman said the authority would be discussing a report in March about possible events on the Meadows.

He said: "The Meadows Marathon is going to go ahead as planned, although they will not be allowed structures on the grass, to prevent any damage."