Immediately after the start, 2023: Ewan Cameron leading the field on Portobello Prom

Many  Scottish road race classics have been dropped from the calendar.   There are many reasons for the demise of such races as the Strathallan 20 miles, the Bute 18, the Clydebank to Helensburgh 16 and the races at Shotts and Dunblane.   There have also, alas, been races dropped from the calendar simply because of a lack of will to keep them going.   The Edinburgh to North Berwick was a real classic having been run by many of the very best distance runners in the country, used by dozens of club runners as a stepping stone to the full marathon distance and it was also one of the Scottish Marathon Club sponsored races.   It dropped from the calendar in 2017 but was revived and revitalised by Alan and Alistair Lawson and their team in 2022.     It went well that year and has gone from strength to strength since with a team race being incorporated in 2015.   There are also videos of the event by Jim Sheach and his wife Kate Crichton – the 2025 one is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0BZxWv3lhc .     

It has its own website which you can see at https://www.e2nb.org.uk   from which the photographs here have been taken and which have all details of the races have been obtained.   Before going straight into the results, it might be salutary and have lessons for other now defunct races, were we to look at how the resurrection came about.  

When asked about what motivated him, Alan replied: “I had run in the E2NB in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and thought it was a fine race. From 2009 to 2017 it was heavily supported by East Lothian Council, who provided staff to do much of the admin and organisation (and also for the North Berwick Law race and a couple of road races at Haddington). The E2NB also had a committee with reps from 7 clubs — Dunbar, Haddington ELP, Musselburgh, Portobello, Edinburgh AC, Hunters Bog Trotters and Ferranti, but after 2017 the Council withdrew their support, and the leading lights of the 7 clubs decided that the event could not be kept going. The race didn’t happen at all in 2018, ’19, ’20 or ’21;  the race had been killed off.  I though this was a disaster, given the event’s long history and its roll-call of famous winners. It was also the only 20-mile race left in Scotland, and was relatively unusual in being a point-to-point… always a more attractive proposition than circular courses or out-and-backs. It is also, I suspect, the only hard-surface, point-to-point 20-mile race anywhere in Britain.

I decided to resurrect the event.   I had co-founded the Seven Hills of Edinburgh in 1980 and organised it ever since.  I also operated a half-marathon at the Barry Buddon military training area near Carnoustie in 2014/15/16, although dreadful obstructionism by Landmarc (the MoD’s agents) then killed it off.”

We see from the above the motivation that drove the restart of the race, and some of Alan’s own athletics organisational experience but there were other aspects of the event that needed some attention.    Alan continues. 

There were a lot of aspects of the E2NB’s operation which were not good (including its finances), so I changed almost everything apart from the 20-mile course!  I had good cooperation from Brian Howie — a long-time E2NB enthusiast — who provided some documents from the past.  I also created a dedicated website for the event — something which it had never previously had.  And I found the venerable trophy — which had been lost for 10 years!   There have been other new trophies obtained for women and for veterans. The resurrected event has now been run 4 times with last year seeing a record historical field, 227 finishers. And the post-match catering is excellent and much appreciated by the runners!”

As with other race organisers he has had difficulties with unco-operative elected officials.   Many race committees say pretty well the same things.   Relations between the  Council   and the race have effectively collapsed.    Informative and educational and a lesson for others who would follow in his footsteps.

Ewan Cameron after his epic third victory in 2025

The first race back was an undoubted success with more than 170 finishers from over 20 clubs which ranged geographically from Fulham Running Club to Metro Aberdeen.    The first five finishers in 2022 were as in the table below.

Name	Position	Time	Club	Category
Ewan Cameron	1	1:53:41	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Callum Reid	2	1:54:00	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Charles Houston	3	1:58:11	Hunters Bog Trotters	Senior
Stuart Campbell	4	1:59:07	Corstorphine AC	MV 50
Graeme Doig	5	1:59:15	PH Racing Club	Senior

There were over 40 women taking part in the race with Victoria Campbell being first woman to finish (she was 48th) in 2:30:04, followed by Amanda Ferguson  (FV 45) in 56th in 2:32:40, and Heather Darling in 57th in 2:33:33.    There were male veterans in almost all categories with the first three being Stuart Campbell in fifth, Duncan Ryan (Perth Road Runners) sixteenth in 2:09:30 and John J Duffy (Shettleston) twentieth in 2:25:55.   Seventy runners of the 150 finishers were veterans.   There was also a team competition included in the race and it was won by Edinburgh AC’s team of Ewan Cameron 1st, Callum Reid 2nd and John Morris 7th.   Second and third were Hunters Bog Trotters OFY and EAC BB Team.   It should be noted that the team was open to groups of individuals who had just grouped themselves into groups of three as well as existing club team members and there were teams such as Party@Porty, Tyne Bridge and Runners are Smilers.   

2023

Jennifer Wetton, Central AC, Women’s winner in 2023 in 2:10:35

In 2023 the field of runners was slightly bigger with 175 finishers of whom 45 were women and there were 72 vets (including women).   The first five are in the table below.   Ewan Cameron won the race as in 2022 and Stuart Campbell also occupied the same places as the year before – fourth overall and first vet.   Ewan can be seen in the photograph leading the field after the start, a position he held safely to the finish.

Name	Position	Time	Club	Category
Ewan Cameron	1	1:55:04	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Stuart Johnston	2	1:58:59	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Michael Rimicans	3	1:59:01	EU Hare & Hounds	Senior
Stuart Campbell	4	2:01:24	Corstorphine AAC	MV50
Julian Sinke	5	2:02:43	LG eXa Leipzig e V.	Senior

There was also a team race and in the tradition of the first race, not all teams were club teams.   It was won by EdinburghAC with a team of Ewan Cameron (1st), Stuart Johnston (4th) and John Hancock 16th.   The remaining teams in order were Ultra Attacking AC, Portobello Boys, We Should Be On A Team, Carse AC, Lauderdale Limpers, NB Too Slow, Lothian Running Club, Penicuik Harriers, Haddington Running Club and Edinburgh Running Club.   The teams could be runners from the same or different club, unattached runners or teams of combined genders.   It is a growing practice in many ultra and hill races and has the virtue of giving people in weaker clubs or who are not in any club the opportunity to gain a prize, adds an element of fun to the procedings and probably increases the number of entries,  

2024

Tom Martyn, winner in 2024 with Trophy

Tom’s time in 2024 was record for the 20 mile distance – more than two minutes clear of the second runner but a huge difference from the previous years’ times reported above.   He also led the winning team home, as indeed did Ewan in the first two events.

In 2024 there were many more runners – in fact the event attracted 196 athletes and it would surely only be a matter of time before the 200 barrier was broken.   The times were also good with the first two runners being quicker than in either of the first two races of the new series. both set by Ewan Cameron who was second this time round beating his own time of 2022.   Stuart Campbell, fourth in each of the first two races, ran again and finished 13th to retain the title of first veteran (he was a V50) which he now had three times in a row.   Jennifer Wetton was again first woman to finish, this time in 2:12:04.

Name	Position	Time	Club	Category
Tom Martyn	1	1:48:45	Hunters Bog Trotters	Senior
Ewan Cameron	2	1:51:07	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Charles Houston	3	1:54:48	Hunters Bog Trotters	Senior
Antony Buchanan	4	2:00:40		Senior
Telfer Gray	5	2:01:27	Corstorphine AAC	Senior

In the team race, the winning outift was Hunters Bog Trotters led home by Tom Martyn and had a low total of 12 points with the other team members being Charles Houton (3rd) and Charles Williamson (8th).   Second and third were Thursday Crew with 125 points and A Porty Scran, also with 125 points.   There were also two all-ladies teams – Portobello Running Club Ladies (4th) and Musselburgh and District Female (5th with 320 points) who were ahead of Musselburgh and District Men (6th with 360).

2025

With numbers increasing year on year, how did 2025 compare?   It was a bumper year with 227 finishers 31 more than the previous year.  More than 80 vets were in the race – another increase – and 46 women took part. First vet was Rob Souter from Musselburgh in 2:13:01 and first woman Esther Everitt in 2:14:54.  The race grew in another respect too when the organisers added a team prize to the already impressive awards on offer.   

Name	Position	Time	Club	Category
Ewan Cameron	1	1:52:48	Edinburgh AC	Senior
Daniel Combe	2	2:02:10		Senior
Garrie Nobbs	3	2:04:06	Nairn Road Runners	Senior
Richard Kitto	4	2:05:05	North Berwick Runners	Senior
Nicholas Trowell	5	2:06:06	NB Runners	Senior

The first and maybe most obvious feature of the ’25 race was the winning individual being Ewan Cameron making it three wins in four races – and he was second in the fourth.   This victory was special because it was his third in the race with only one man having done so in any incarnation of the race – Colin Hutt of Bo’ness Road Runners was the man and he won it in 1997 (2:08:07), 1998 (2:06:19) and 1999 (2:06:57).   His feat had not been equalled in 28 years before Ewan did so.    In the team race the first three teams were NB Runners Fast Boys with 21 points,  Interval with 48 points and Maryhill Harriers with 164 points.    

There are several links with previous races but single most passionate man about the race is without doubt Brian Howie who won the M70 prize in 2022, ’23 and ’25.   Brian has a website of his own about the race that goes a long way back with all the results contained therein and available to the public.   It can be found at  Brians’s home pages    He has run in the race over various courses and distances for many years and his website is well worth a visit.    The race organisers have done a superb job in getting this wonderful event restored to the calendar – especially when so many others are falling by the wayside with little if any co-operation from local politicians and police forces.    Alan and brother Alistair  are determined to keep it going, whatever it takes.   

The race for 2026 will be on 2nd May – note it in your Diary.   It is well organised, there is a fairly extensive prize list with spot prizes in addition to individual and team award..   ie Trophies for Male and female winners, as well as for M40 and F45 veterans, prizes for first 4 men and women.  Age group prizes are also in place.      All finishers get a memento in the form of a specially designed coaster.   2nd May, 2026 is the date.