With All Hallows' Eve celebrated on Friday, 31 October 2025 – the night before the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which is observed on November 1 – there are several spooky-themed running events being promoted in the runABC South region.

Now more widely known as Hallowe'en, or simply Halloween, the festival is marked by characters dressed up in spooky costumes depicting vampires, zombies, witches, ghosts, goblins and other fearful spectres. It also boosts sales of sweets as the children carry out a sugar-fuelled rush from door to door in search of treats!

If there's still an abundance of energy after supervising trick or treating, here are a few Halloween races that may still have last-minute entries available...

Ghost Race Run Run Run 2025 is billed as a terrifying 6.66K (of course) race at Alver Valley Country Park, Gosport from 4:30pm on Saturday 1 November – click here to enter. 

Oblivion Samhain on 1 November takes Obstacle Course Racing to a new level. Based at the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Bunker, Brentwood, the challenge is to complete as many 6K laps of the classic Nuclear Fallout course as possible within the 5.5-hour time limit. Complete six laps for 35K+, with more than 200 obstacles, and the Oblivion Extreme medal is yours – click here for full details.

Phoenix Running's Alice in Runderland on 1 November is not Halloween-themed, but why not dress to impress as you tackle any chosen distance from 5K to an ultramarathon by running laps through the beautiful Forest of Bere near Wickham in Hampshire. There's a seven-hour limit, and 20% of proceeds go directly to Forestry England for caring for the woodlands. Pay one entry fee and decide how you feel on the day – everyone who completes one or more laps gets the same bespoke finishers' medal – click here for details.

Naturally, just about every one of 1,368+ parkruns and junior parkruns on 1 – 2 November will be awash with Halloween fancy dress. Click here to find your nearest parkrun event.

Did you miss the boat for Halloween? Never fear, Santa's nearly here! Check out runABC South's race listing for Guy Fawkes races and Santa Runs so you can join in the fun...

Photo courtesy of Maidstone River Park parkrun​​​​​​​