I normally wait until the middle of the festival but because I am working full time this year at the college I won't have any free days to go into town nearer the middle of the festival. So I chose the first day of the Fringe to soak up the atmosphere. I was also wanting to head to the High Street to go in search of Vicki Weitz (http://vickiweitz.moonfruit.com/#/blog/4564207122) who I had read about on Fetch. Vicki is a performance artist who along with others have been exploring the link between sports and the arts. This began as a project running alongside the Olympics last year. Vicki is attempting to run 26 marathons in 26 days with her route being up and down the Royal Mile. Most of the chat on Fetch was around whether this was art and how on earth she was going to manage to run up and down the Royal Mile at this time of the year - most of us avoid the Mile on our runs. I was intrigued. No matter whether it was art or not she was tackling a huge challenge - the Royal Mile is a big hill and to run up it 13 times every day for 26 days is quite impressive. So Vicki was part of my route.
I set off from the car park at Dynamic Earth. It had been raining on the way into the town but by the time I set off on my run the sun was coming out and lovely blue sky was revealing itself.
I then headed off in search of toilets! On of the privileges of being an Edinburgh University Alumni is being able to sneak into Moray House and use the toilets in there!! That was me ready for my run. I headed off up towards Venue 33, at the Pleasance. This is a venue which gets very busy and there is always lots of people having a drink at the pubs and cafes inside. However, it was just waking up and there were only staff around enjoying the calm before the storm.
Next I headed for Bristo Square. The Underbelly is always an impressively odd venue. A huge purple cow upside down in the middle of the beautiful Bristo Square with it's historical old buildings of the University always makes me smile. The Gilded Garden and the Gilded Balloon takes up residence in Teviot (the students union building). The Guilded Balloon Venue has been there since the fire at their original building a few years ago. I think it suits being in Bristo Square. It looks great. The BBC have their fringe broadcasting centre here too which is always a good spot for celebrity spotting. Only techy guys having coffee this early in the morning though.
Moving on I wanted to get to the Royal Mile to go in search of Vicki but rather than just heading down George IV Bridge I headed down into the Grassmarket via Greyfriars Bobby. How many festivals has Bobby seen I wonder?
What I love about the fringe is how you walk along the road with people passing you all dressed up. I was walking along and a huge dressed up teddy bear passed me, a man dressed as a scraggy pirate, and a whole load of old fashioned soldiers were amassing outside a cafe just beside Bobby. And nobody bats an eyelid! I used to have a job in Boots the Chemist in Cockburn Street when the kids were young and it used to make me laugh in the festival when you would be serving drag queens their meal deals whilst listening to a saxophone player outside playing the pink panther tune. I love the madness of the fringe. This is what you don't have time for when you are working day in day out and it just gets in the road.
So down into the Grassmarket. Edinburgh Castle looked stunning from the Grassmarket. I ran down into the Grassmarket and then ran up a steep set of steps which led tourists up to the castle. These steps led up to Johnstone Terrace which is where all the coaches wait for the tattoo. From this angle you could see the castle surrounded by the tattoo seating.
Very slowly I ran up the steep steps to the Castle. The Esplanade is taken over by the impressive structure of the tattoo but you can still get into the castle and there were loads of tourists taking photos of the castle. It was particularly impressive with the pure blue sky behind it.
Right off to find Vicki. I was hoping by starting at the top I would find her near the top that way I could meet her and run down hill! Giving me the chance to see just how fast she was running and whether slow coach me could keep up with her! And just as I came out the entrance to the castle there she appeared! I introduced myself and we set off down the hill. We chatted for two and a half miles. Vicki was very easy to chat to and we had a great blether. She explained her "performance" and I was intrigued. (I apologise to Vicki if my paraphrased explanation is completely wrong but this is what I got out of what she said and loved the whole idea). We talked about how Vicki came to running 26 miles every day for 26 days. She said that the project initially started by looking at where sport meets art as part of the Olympic Games Legacy last year. She told me about the other projects that she had taken part in as part of the Olympics last year. She said that this project came out of her thinking about fear and how she didn't think she was really frightened about anything. She said she likes spiders, not afraid of the dark, fine with heights. Then she said she found herself being apprehensive about everyday things like meeting new people, doing new things. So this led her to thinking about how fear can drive different challenges. She told me that she knew that she is completely over trained (with the support of sport scientists, friends and physios) for the first day of her 26 in 26 challenge but wondered at what point fear would kick in and make the challenge more difficult. The team that were supporting her were recording her feelings, her moods etc to help record this change. Vicki also talked about how she felt she would engage with the changing Royal Mile and all the people that she would meet over the time. Different people have been running with her and regular workers such as policemen at the parliament, security guards at Holyrood Palace are all becoming part of her run on a daily basis. The sun was out by this point and it was very warm but it was quite windy and we were dodging signs blowing over as well as festival performers. Vicki said she had been running in the rain early on and it had been lovely to wake up with the Royal Mile. We got to talking about how people always ask of distance runners if they get bored whilst running long distances. We both said the answer to that is no because there are always people to talk to, things to see and things to think about. She also said that a sports psychologist she spoke to said to her that Ultra runners tend to be running away from something. She said her run is confusing him because she is running up and down the same hill! I said that I wanted to step up to Ultra to find a new challenge as I no longer fear the marathon. So we both agreed that maybe there are exceptions to his theory. We stopped at the Scottish Storytelling Centre which was where Vicki had her support team. Vicki was lovely and introduced me to her team. We got a quick photo at this point whilst Vicki ate her 10gms of carbs and had some water. We had a natter about her fuelling strategy which sounded really interesting.
I had already decided to leave Vicki at Jeffrey's Street as I was concious of not eating too much into her thinking space. She was at 16 miles when I left her and I know that around 18 miles I start to retreat into my own thoughts in order to get to the end of the distance. When we parted Vicki gave me a huge hug and I wished her well on her challenge. What I thought was interesting was Vicki is just passing through the everyday bustle of the Edinburgh Fringe, she is a performer but will anyone notice her? She is officially a performer but Vicki silently runs through the throng of performers singing, dancing and wearing loud costumes. Is that the performance? You just need to think about the way Usain Bolt arrived in the stadium at the Anniversary Games, cheer as Mo Farah does the Mobot to see that Sport does meet art/theatre/performance. I am not sure I run to entertain but I agree that when I am running I feel connected to life. I run through the different seasons, feel the wind on my face, run through people, animals, life. One of the theories I have learned about at work is a play theory called Evolutionary Play by Bob Hughes who discusses how children should have the opportunity to play experiencing the elements (that is really simplifying it) and I like to think that when I am running I am playing. I wish Vicki lots of luck for her remaining marathons and hope she finds the answer. And as I said to her, it's just running, one foot in front of the other, don't fear it, you can just stop and walk!
As I ran away from her I was mulling over our chat. I started to question if I was running away from anything with my long distances? Running has never been about exercise for me, it has always been a way of life. And now, maybe I am running away from getting old, I worry about how many more races I will be able to do, will my body stay in one piece for one more marathon. So yes, maybe I am running away from something but I don't really see it that way I just love running and the challenges it brings to my life and the lovely people that I meet.
Lots of people inspire me. Ingrid Kristianson inspired me to start running 27 years ago, my Fetchie buddies Margaret, Alastair and Carolyn inspire me in my running now and my children and wonderful husband inspire me in life. Meeting Vicki showed me that ordinary people can achieve amazing things. She is inspirational, friendly and seemed a lot of fun. Go look at her web page to read her blog - very interesting. Make up your own mind as to whether you think it is art or not? I think it is.
But my run wasn't finished. I headed down to Princes Street and ran through the gardens. The Gardens and The Scott Monument looked great.
The streets were beginning to get a little busier as the day moved on. I headed down Waverley Bridge past all the tour buses. That was quite tough. I then ran up Cockburn Street and up another set of steps. I used to run up and down these steps when I worked at the Regional Headquarters when I was 18!!! They were a little tougher today, not quite as fit as I was then.
These steps (Warriston Close) took me right into the heart of the Fringe performers. Stopped for a bit to take some photos of the performers and the street.
My Garmin told me I was just over 6 miles so that was me for the day. I headed back down the Royal Mile and onto Holyrood Road to Dynamic Earth and as is my treat at the end of a nice run I had a wee cup of tea whilst sitting on the grass at the Parliament. Saw Vicki once more as she ran to the bottom of the hill and touched the Holyrood Palace Gates and head back up the hill. She is only on day three she has another 23 days to go, so if you are in the area go find her, she is really nice and has loads of interesting ideas to chat about. And she doesn't run too fast - I kept up with her!!!
So that's my festival run for 2013. A whole year before the next one!
Good luck Vicki!!!!
don't worry, be happy :)
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