Edinburgh Day 1

Saturday, 13 July 2024

We're actually in Edinburgh for almost a week as we watch the sprint world champs and do our own races while we also do all the touristy stuff.

Today we walked about 15 minutes to the arena for the first official day of the world championships - the sprint qualifying. We cheered the Australians and watched everyone else try to qualify for the afternoon final before we went out ourselves to do our own course.

If I had any misgivings about the economic state of Edinburgh before I started my race, they certainly weren't alleviated as we ran through housing estates and abandoned concrete blocks near Leith.  We did get a good glimpse of the water which was nice but it was hard to enjoy it properly while we raced over the broken glass and rubbish.

The afternoon event was a different story however. Right in the heart of Edinburgh - Princes Park - the arena was absolutely spectacular:

The elite finalists had a really tricky course and there were a few upsets. It had a great atmosphere and it was finally sunny as well.  We watched until the very end then took a bus back to our apartment and made pizzas for tea. Perfect.