The 36th Altra Brighton Half Marathon, on Sunday, 1st March 2026, was started by BAFTA-nominated actor and award-winning singer/songwriter Olly Alexander, who joined the action after sounding the air horn, finishing in 2:03:43 running for Team Beacon.

Brighton-based HIV charity, The Sussex Beacon Hospice, is the owner of the race. The event is the charity’s biggest fundraiser every year, essential to help fund the charity’s services. This year, over 800 Team Beacon runners raised a record £200,000 for The Sussex Beacon Hospice, as just under 9,500 runners finished in four and a half hours.

The race typically raises over £1 million for charities across Sussex and the UK every year, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Alzheimer’s Society, Taylor-Made Dreams, Grassroots Suicide Prevention, Say Aphasia, Venkat Memorial Trust, Alcohol Change UK, and local charities Rockinghorse, Amaze, and Raystede. 

Among the many charity runners were John Jones, Peter Osborne, Dominic Hughes, Tom Ratcliffe, Craig McKay, Chris Worrall and Phil Weston, a group of doctors from across the country who ran as a herd of cows (pictured below)!

In the men’s race, course record holder Seyfu Jamaal (London Heathside) won, sporting race bib #1, in 1:05:28 – almost a minute down on his 1:04:30 record set in much better conditions last year. The men's podium was completed by Oluwatosin Adedeji (Newham & Essex Beagles, 1:06:21) and Reuben Hoyte (Brighton Phoenix AC, 1:06:41).

The women’s race was won by Maisie Trafford (Brighton Phoenix AC, 1:17:32) from Ruby Whyte-Wilding (Lewes AC, 1:18:14) and Lucy Lavender (Tri Lavender Coaching, 1:18:44). The women's race record of 1:15:34 was set by Cassie Thorp (City of Portsmouth AC) in 2024.

Martin Harrigan, Race Director, Altra Brighton Half Marathon, said: “What an incredible weekend! The sun shone for the Youth Races on Saturday and then the rain poured and the wind blew today for the main race but our runners, volunteers, supporters and sponsors were absolutely amazing! We had a record number of runners during the race weekend, with over 10,000 taking part. A huge thank you to everyone for making the Altra Brighton Half Marathon the happiest half of the year! ”

The Altra Brighton Half Marathon started on Hove Lawns, sweeping east along Brighton seafront past key city landmarks such as the i360 and the Brighton Palace Pier before heading north past Royal Pavilion and on to the bracing cliff tops of East Brighton. Runners then headed back to Madeira Drive, Hove Lagoon, and the colourful beach huts of Hove seafront, before heading to the finish line on Hove Lawns.

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

Photos courtesy of Luca Sage (above) and Augustin Hardy (below) for Brighton Half Marathon