Beachy Head Half Marathon brings the curtain down on one of Britain's great off road running weekends on Sunday 25 October, with a spectacular coastal challenge across the South Downs and Seven Sisters.

The Half Marathon is the second day of the wider Beachy Head Marathon Weekend in Eastbourne. Saturday 24 October hosts the Marathon, Ultra and 10K, before the Half Marathon takes centre stage on Sunday morning. The headline Marathon celebrates its 46th year in 2026 and the Half Marathon is now in its sixth year, giving runners another way to experience this famous landscape.

Starting at 8:00am from Dukes Drive on Eastbourne Seafront, the Half Marathon heads into the South Downs National Park, passing Eastbourne Downs Golf Club and the village of Friston before turning towards the coast.

That return journey provides the defining section of the race. Runners, joggers and walkers tackle the Seven Sisters and pass Belle Tout Lighthouse before making the descent towards Eastbourne and the finish back at Dukes Drive. It shares much of the character and scenery that have made the longer Beachy Head event famous, compressed into a Half Marathon challenge with a four hour time limit.

The scale of the wider weekend adds another dimension. Beachy Head is regarded as one of the UK's biggest off road marathon events, with thousands taking part across the distances and the South Downs providing the unmistakable backdrop.

For those who want the Beachy Head experience without committing to the full Marathon, Sunday's Half offers a formidable alternative. The distance may be shorter, but with the Seven Sisters between start and finish, this is still unmistakably Beachy Head.

Entries for the half marathon are available via the runABC race hub.

Image courtesy Beachy Head Marathon on Facebook.