Local comedian, actor and keen parkrunner Joe Wilkinson started the 35th Altra Brighton Half Marathon at 9:00am on Sunday 2 March 2025 with a magnificent 8,902 finishing the race in less than five hours.

The new start on Hove Lawns saw the colourful throng of runners heading east along Brighton seafront, past key city landmarks such as the i360 and the Brighton Palace Pier, before heading north past the Royal Pavilion and on to the bracing cliff tops of East Brighton. Runners then returned via Madeira Drive, Hove Lagoon and the colourful beach huts of Hove seafront, before finally heading for the finish line back on Hove Lawns.

In perfect conditions under an azure blue sky Seyfu Jamaal (London Heathside AC) smashed the men's course record with a superb time of 1:04:30. Jamaal was three minutes clear of Ed Shepherd (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies AC, 1:07:53) and Hugh Sadler (Bristol & West AC, 1:08:15 PB) completed the men's podium.

The women’s race was won comfortably by W35 Christa Cain (Best Athletics, 1:16:19) followed by Rachel Laurie (Chichester Runners, 1:18:00 PB) and Ruby Whyte-Wilding (Belgrave Harriers, 1:18:21). The women's record (1:15:34) set by Cassie Thorp last year survived the onslaught.

Alongside the elite field, thousands of charity runners took part including Stuart Taylor, 45, from Lancing, who ran the race wearing a karaoke speaker backpack and singing the whole way round to raise money for WaterAid. Soph Cheesman, 31, and Hannah Brown, 32, from Brighton broke the Guinness World Record by running the race three-legged in a staggering time of 1:48:24, and Carmen Somerset, 40, and Daniel Creed, 44, from Hove ran the race the morning after their wedding party!

Brighton-based HIV charity The Sussex Beacon is the owner of the race. The event is the charity’s biggest fundraiser and essential to help support the charity’s services. The race typically raises over £1 million annually for various charities across Sussex and the UK.

Rachel Brett, CEO, The Sussex Beacon said: "What a wonderful day, such an incredible atmosphere! Thank you to all the runners, our sponsors, the charities, the supporters, and the fantastic volunteers who make the event possible! We hope to see you all next year!”

Martin Harrigan, Race Director, Altra Brighton Half Marathon said: “Such a fantastic day! We could not have asked for better weather, and the support around the course has been amazing! It is incredible to have had the course record smashed by Seyfu Jamaal in the men’s race but all the runners have been incredible! Thank you also to all the sponsors, supporters and finally, our amazing volunteers who gave up their Sunday morning to support us. We really couldn’t do it without you!”

Previous results and event reports are at the runABC South race listing.

Photo courtesy Jeff Mood for Brighton Half Marathon