After an afternoon and early evening of very heavy rain it was such a relief when the storm passed to leave a clear dry evening. I have no decent photos from the first half of the night, I was either too busy chatting, battling with the mud, looking at all the Edinburgh buildings lit up pink, but not stopping long enough to work out the camera settings to capture them, and admiring the views from Arthur's Seat.
At the 13 mile point however there comes a sight that makes getting the camera out a complete necessity, as you turn the corner and you see the sea and the light on the water and are astonished at how light it is. This is 3.30am, an hour before sunrise, and look at that sky.
Gorgeous.
Just under 4 miles later, at 4.29am the first glimpse of the sun can be seen.
By mile 20 it is a gloriously sunny early morning.
Now the city it is waking up, and people are starting their day as we are finishing our night. Volunteers are at every corner, helping us cross the road safely, passing on words of encouragement, sweets and hugs if required. This event is so incredibly friendly and the support from the volunteers is truly what makes it special. A sign about a supporter of the event who lost her battle with cancer since last years event and the sight of her son on his own this year, with his own sign that read "Thank you from Mum" brings tears to my eyes, and I am grateful for my superhero eye mask so that no-one can tell.
Finally we cross the line, total time this year 8 hours 12 minutes, but if you take away the time stopping for taking photos, and queueing for the toilets the total walking time was about 7 hours 20 minutes.
Dottycookie's little fishy was very well behaved, and I made sure he didn't eat too many jellybabies.
Last but not least we got presented with a wonderful medal,
and I treated myself to a finisher's t-shirt.
After all who wants to be a superhero for just one night?
