THE oldest road race in the east of Scotland looks set to go ahead despite being deemed unsafe by both East Lothian Council and Police Scotland, after it was claimed that the organiser failed to comply with health and safety regulations.

The Edinburgh to North Berwick Race is the last 20-mile race in Scotland and has been running for 60 years, with competitors from across the country taking part each year.

The event itself was run by East Lothian Council from 2009 until 2017 before it withdrew its support for the 2018 edition, which did not take place.

No subsequent event took place due to Covid-19 until 2022, when it was revitalised by current organiser Alan Lawson.

After the success of the race’s return last year, Mr Lawson has claimed that the council’s imposition of regulations represents a “double standard” which could threaten the race’s future.

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He said: “None of these conditions and terms were ever applied when they themselves were running the race but now it seems that all sorts of things are being demanded.

“We think that the race is perfectly safe, it was perfectly safe last year and nobody raised any points about safety last year, including the police.

“There has never been any incident in the race’s 60-year history.

“We think our position is pretty sound but, because of the terms and conditions that are so onerous they would have bankrupted the event, there was no agreement.”

In meetings with the council, Mr Lawson, 75, said that officials had urged him to cancel the race if he was unwilling to accept the new health and safety measures.

'Double standards'

He added: “They strongly recommended that we cancel the race, but we’re not going to cancel the race because there’s nothing wrong with the race. It’s a very popular race and a very important race, it’s a piece of Scottish running history.”

However, East Lothian Council made many suggestions to Mr Lawson following on from last year’s edition which he claims are financially impossible.

He said: “They insisted that we employ a traffic management company, which we thought added nothing to safety, added to the organisational problems and added very significantly to the cost.

“It was certainly not done when East Lothian Council operated the race.

“There are huge double standards here between what they are demanding now of me, who has resurrected this important race which they pulled the plug on in 2018.

“The notion that this race is not safe is completely untrue and I resent these people saying it.”

The race is due to take place on Saturday, May 6, starting at Portobello Promenade at 9.45am and ending in North Berwick.

More than 160 runners have already signed up to the event and Mr Lawson was cautiously optimistic of seein more join.

The route mainly takes place on regularly used running areas, including roads, cycle paths, pavements and pedestrianised areas; however, some parts of the run between Longniddry and Aberlady and the approach to Gullane have been claimed to be unsafe.

Mr Lawson stressed that these areas had never had an incident and that passing cars were well marshalled at last year’s event with temporary 30mph limit signs in place.

'Unable to support the event'

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “The organiser of the event, despite attending multi-agency SAG (Safety Advisory Group) meetings, has been unable or unwilling to comply with conditions East Lothian Council and Police Scotland require for the safe running of the 2023 event.

“Concerns had been raised over last year’s event with particular reference to the safety of both participating runners and other road users, and a number of recommendations were advised to the organiser, including employing a traffic management company to ensure correct processes were in place to control traffic and ensure runners’ and spectators’ safety.

“It is the event organiser’s responsibility to take any appropriate action to alleviate these concerns.

“Unfortunately, as these conditions have not been met, on the grounds of health and safety, East Lothian Council and Police Scotland are unable to support the event.

“The SAG does not have any legislative authority to prevent the organiser from holding the event but he has been advised in the strongest terms to cancel the event in its current format.

“Runners who may have already signed up to participate or others considering to do so are also advised that the event does not comply with necessary conditions ensuring their safety.”