Meadows runners hold their breath

Organisers of the popular charity event, the Meadows marathon, remain in the dark this week as council officials continue to withold their permission for the annual ten kilometre run.

Despite being promised a decision in December, organisers are becoming increasingly frustrated by the refusal of Edinburgh City Council to set a date for a final decision on whether the event, co-ordinated by the Edinburgh Students’ Charities Association (ESCA), may use the perimeter of the Meadows as a track for around 1000 runners in March.

The dispute centres around the council’s desire to give the surface of Meadows a necessary recovery period following intensive use over the past year. Areas of grass remain in poor state following events such as the Lady Boys of Bangcock – a long-standing Festival attraction whose trucks and marquees place huge demands on the Meadows. ESCA have pointed out, however, that the run uses only the tarmac route surrounding the Meadows, not the damaged turf.

As such, those involved have been surprised by the intransigence of the council—specifically, the parks department—so far. Moreover, the department's failure to raise the prospect of potential problems until late in the planning stage has further angered organisers.

Speaking last week to The Journal, student coordinator for the charities’ appeal, Simon Kirkland, said: “We have been in contact with the Council since last August with regard to the 2009 Meadows Marathon. But, it was not until October that they raised the issue regarding cancelling events in the meadows.

“We were told then that an answer would be given no later than December. However, in the first week of January we were told that the decision was to be pushed back to February, obviously this is far too late as our event is in March and, from previous experience, we cannot assume that by February they would come to a definitive answer.”

Mr Kirkland expressed concern that delay will have repercussions in terms of the number of runners taking part and the amount of money raised for charities as a result: “The key problem that we are facing is that we are unable to make any decisions regarding the event and cannot take any positive steps towards promoting the event.

“The longer we wait on the decision the less time we have to recruit runners and promote the event across Edinburgh thus diminishing the events success and most importantly the amount of money raised for charity.”

As yet, the impossibility of confirming the fundraiser means that ESCA have yet to sign up a single runner.

At the time of print, a meeting between ESCA and Edinburgh City Council had been scheduled for Monday 12 January. A spokesperson for the council said: "There's a meeting taking place to discuss events in the meadows. That's to discuss all sorts of events and how [access for large events on the Meadows] is going to work from now on. So that's what's caused the delay in the charity not hearing about whether the event can go ahead."

However, pressed further on why a decision had been promised for December, but delayed until January, the spokesperson admitted that the individual responsible for the decision had been ill, though would not be drawn as to why no contingency plans had been put in place.

In a statement released this week, environment leader Councillor Robert Aldridge said:
 
"Due to concerns about the recovery of turf in the Meadows we are currently helping organisers to find alternative venues for events to minimise their impact on the Meadows. A report on the future policy governing the use of the Meadows and other city parks for events is currently being prepared and this matter is expected to be taken to the council's Policy and strategy committee in the near future."

A fixture of the Edinburgh calendar for the past three years, the Meadows marathon sees both students and residents completing nine laps of the Meadows in order to raise money for any desired charity. Past years have traditionally seen competitors dress in a variety of outlandish costumes: the 2007 winner staged his victory wearing a pair of fairy wings and a tutu.

In 2008 around 800 runners took part, raising a total of £40,000 for good causes worldwide. Organisers had hoped that this year would bring in over 1000 runners in an attempt to beat the £50,000 mark, but recent events have placed this target in jeopardy.

The coming days will see event coordinators forced to gamble upon whether to continue to wait for the possible council nod, or to put alternative plans into action.

Mr Kirkland said: “If the council are unable to give us an answer relatively soon or if they refuse to grant us permission our contingency plans are severely limited.

“One option is to move the event to Peffermill [the sports ground owned by the University of Edinburgh], however this greatly hampers our promotion campaign and brand image. The Meadows Marathon loses its effect if its not actually held in the Meadows!”