Southampton Marathon announces new date for 2021
Maritime city will launch its flagship race on 5 September '21
ABP Southampton Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and fun run suffered a triple blow last year as the original April and two reserve dates passed with no races being held. But the organisers are delighted to finally announce the return of the event on Sunday 5th September 2021.
Following talks with Southampton City Council and other key stakeholders, it has now been decided to move this popular Spring event to the Autumn, when Covid-19 restrictions should have eased enough to allow the event to happen safely for runners, volunteers, and the city.
On 4 May 2019, almost 7,000 runners participated in one of the South of England's top events, with more than 1,000 going for the full marathon. The winners over 26.2 miles were the defending champion Richard Waldron (Southampton, 2:39:44) and W40 Kirsty Aked (Denmead Striders, 3:08:16) who can both be spotted in this short video capturing the colourful atmosphere of the event.
Race organisers ReesLeisure are working closely with the Council and UK Athletics to ensure the event will meet all Covid-19 restrictions. Runners already signed up to this April’s postponed event will be automatically entered into the September event and organisers have also issued a cast iron Covid guarantee to defer or get a refund if any further restrictions are brought back in.
ABP Southampton Marathon has been growing in popularity since the event started in 2015 and has been supported by Associated British Ports in Southampton since its inception. Over £1.5 million has been raised for local charities and the city centre receives a boost of over £1.3 million as runners and spectators spend the day there. More than 900 volunteers from over 40 local community groups help out at the event as part of the 'ABP Mile Makers' initiative.
Race Director Chris Rees said “Running has been vital to so many people during the lockdown, to help them both physically and mentally to get through this particularly tough time. We know runners are keen to get back to the large-scale events they love and we are working with all the necessary departments to ensure the return will be Covid secure with the runners’ and volunteers’ safety as our top priority”.
Numbers will be capped at 10,000 and spaces are available until the end of May or when the limit is reached. Full race and entry details at ABP Southampton Marathon website here
Previous race results are available at runABC South race listing here
Image: ReesLeisure/ABP Southampton Marathon