Preparations for the much loved Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon are well and truly underway as  runners across the Midlands all look forward to the longer and warmer days of summer.  The race takes place in mid summer on 1 July this year and there has been a surge in entries as we moved into the new year.

Many runners really enjoy this point to point event’s time trial format which is seeded based on predicted time but it’s very much open to runners of all abilities from the elite club runner to the social runner and the finish line at Brindley Place in Birmingham is the perfect spot to relax and celebrate your achievement on the day with a host of pubs, restaurants and family entertainment available close to the finish. This adds a real fun element to the finish line as early finishers will stick around to enjoy a refreshment and cheer the later finishers across the line.

The route is flat and screams PB with only the locks and bridges on the route representing any sort of incline. You can expect a varied surface including gravel tracks, unkept trails and smooth tarmac.

One of the quirkier elements of BBCHM (as it’s affectionately known) are the floating hydration stations in the form of canal barges that will keep your electrolytes topped up every 3 miles along the route and, if it’s warm, then the famous ‘Coseley Canal Tunnel’ offers a cooling stretch along the route.

You can enter the Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon here and it might be best not to delay as entries are running ahead of pre pandemic levels and are limited.

Image courtesy: BBCHM on Facebook.