Brighton Half Marathon
Sun 1 Mar 2026 Brighton, East Sussex, UK

Rubix VT Brighton Half Marathon

Join the UK's Happiest Half - a fast, flat race with a buzzing Brighton atmosphere. An early season major half and one of the most popular races in the UK!

  • Sun 1 Mar 2026
Hove Lawns, Brighton

Brighton Half Marathon

09:30

Age 17 & over

£42.50-£44.50

  • 13.1 miles road running

Event overview

The Brighton Half Marathon was established over 30 years ago and is now a major half marathon in the running calendar being one of the most popular races in the UK!

Over the past three decades the race has grown in numbers and it is now one of the largest running events in the south east and a significant fundraising event for many worthy charities and causes.

runners

Highlights

  • The UK's Happiest Half
  • One of the UK's most popular races
  • Victorian seaside architecture
  • Bracing cliff tops and city views
  • Brighton Palace Pier and Royal Pavilion
  • Winter training motivation
  • Downloadable training plan
  • No ballot, no hassle, just enter

This event is part of ALTRA Brighton Half Marathon .

Event video

  • Event village
  • Fancy dress
  • Spectators
  • Wheelchair users

2026 timetable to be confirmed.

Timetable

Saturday

  • 11:00 | Youth Race Helpdesk opens
  • 13:00-16:00 Youth Races on Hove Lawns
  • 14:00-17:00 | Helpdesk open near to Brighton Pier

Sunday - race day

  • 07:00 | Park and Ride site opens
  • 07:00 | First buses leave for race village
  • 07:30 | Help desk opens
  • 07:45 | Baggage service opens
  • 08:30 | Last bus to leave Mill Road Park and Ride
  • 09:27 | Wheelchair race begins
  • 09:30 | Half marathon begins
  • 11:15 | Elite winners' presentations
  • 11:15 | Wheelchair race presentations
  • 11:30 | First bus back to Park and Ride
  • 14:30 | Race site closes
  • 14:30 | Last bus back to Park and Ride
  • 15:30 | Car park closes

Spectators

Watching from Marine Parade or Hove Lawns enable you to see the race going both ways.

spectators

Wheelchair race

Each year, there is a dedicated Wheelchair Race marquee in race village, where racers and their families can meet before and after the race. After the race there will be winners presentations and prizes in this marquee.

wheelchair race


  • Accommodation
  • Bag storage
  • Bar
  • Cafe
  • Coast
  • Paid parking
  • Toilets
  • Urban

Event HQ

Hove Lawns
Kingsway
Hove
Brighton
East Sussex
BN3 2LS
UK

Map

Click here to open map

What3words

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The start and finish line is on Hove Lawns close to The Peace Statue

Park and Ride

You can book Park and Ride when you register for the race to make your race day logistics run smoothly.

It is open to runners and non-runners, but runners will take priority to ensure they can arrive in the race in good time. Bookings are made per car, rather than per person.

Buses leave when they have reached capacity. 

Paid parking

There are NCP car parks in the centre of Brighton and there is on-street parking. There are also private car parking spaces available to book.

By rail

If you are travelling to Brighton by train - both Hove Station & Brighton station are just over a mile from event village - approximately 20/25 minute depending on the route taken.

Accommodation

Plenty of recommendations are available.

  • Distance markers
  • First aid
  • Marshals
  • No cut off time
  • No headphones
  • Out and back
  • Sweeper
  • Toilets
  • Traffic free
  • Water stations
  • Wave start
  • Way markers

Route highlights

  • Brighton Palace Pier
  • Royal Pavilion
  • St Peter's Church
  • Yeoman's Toyota
  • Royal and Lewes Crescent architecture
  • Cliff tops
  • Panoramic city views
  • SeaLife Centre
  • Brighton Palace Pier
  • Brighton seafront
  • Seaside views
  • West Pier
  • Bandstand
  • Hilton Metropole Doubletree
  • King Alfred Leisure Centre
  • Hove Lagoon
  • Famous colourful beach huts

Map

map

Route description

Miles 1-3

Starting at Hove Lawns on Kingsway, you will head east towards the Brighton Palace Pier, turning left into the Old Steine past the grandeur of the Royal Pavilion towards the majesty of St Peter’s Church. Carrying on you’ll loop through the trees around The Level before you head south back down Grand Parade to the Old Steine, onto Aquarium roundabout – look out for Yeomans Toyota entertainment point welcoming you – before turning left onto Marine Parade.

Miles 3-7

You will continue on Marine Parade, towards Ovingdean, passing regal Royal and Lewes Crescent architecture on your left. Continuing on Marine Drive and the bracing cliff tops, the race will head towards Roedean, where you will turn at Roedean Café bringing you back west, once again towards Aquarium Roundabout, enjoying wonderful cliff top and panoramic city views.

Miles 8-11

At Aquarium Roundabout, you will turn left at the SeaLife Centre along Madeira Drive, with a sea view alongside you.  Turning at the bottom of Dukes Mound, you will head  west past the Brighton Palace Pier along Brighton Seafront.  Picking up the pace as you run past the iconic blue railings, enjoy the seaside views and be sure to spot the West Pier and the Bandstand on your left and the Hiton Metropole DoubleTree on your right.

Once past the two piers, you will head into Hove along the Kingsway with the majestic cream regency architecture on your right and the sea on your left. Past the King Alfred Leisure Centre, you will run to Hove Lagoon before turning left onto the seafront.

Miles 11-13.1

A great two mile run heading east, past the colourful beach huts will bring you back along the Hove Promenade, with crowds cheering you on into the Finish Line!

Cut off time

3.5 hours.

Participants of all abilities are welcome in the race. The sweeper bus will follow runners on a 3.5 hour running schedule. Runners falling behind this schedule will be asked to run on the pavement.

Drink stations

There will be four drinks stations along the 13.1 mile route, with water at each. 

Pacers

There will be pacers for 1hr 30mins / 1hr 45mins / 2hrs / 2hrs 15mins / 2hrs 30 mins / 2hrs 45mins  and 3hrs. 

  • Plastic-free event
  • Public transport links
  • Recycling
  • Sustainability policy

As a race that delivers a fairly unique seafront running - sustainability and the environment are a big part of the Brighton experience.

The Brighton Half Marathon is working hard to become a truly sustainable race.

For over ten years this event has been recycling as much as possible from the race – all the plastic and cardboard, including the cartons used at the drinks stations. Here are some of the actions taken each year:

Sustainability summary

  • Large recycling bins are hired and placed adjacent to each drinks station.
  • Clear ups of the areas by each fuel station.
  • Aluminium cans of water replace plastic bottles.
  • Paper bags replace plastic bags.
  • Electronic race guide instead of post.
  • City Clean are contracted in to support on race day so that all waste from the event is removed in line with the Local Authority rules on recycling across the city.
  • The event organises its own park and ride service on race day - encouraging participants to car share where possible and ultimately removing 550 cars from the city centre.
  • Wherever possible use local suppliers to help reduce delivery miles.
  • All lost property goes to Sussex Beacon shops.
  • Even the lead safety car is electric!

  • Chip timing
  • Medal
  • Technical t-shirt
  • Training plan

Training plan

The Brighton Half Marathon training plan is available to download.

Start your training now! The flexible plan features three sessions each week, where you can choose the day. Print it out and tick off those training miles!

RunBrighton running group

If you live and train locally, RunBrighton is a local running group where you’ll be able to enjoy the company of well over 100 runners every week on their long training runs.

These go through to the Brighton Half Marathon and beyond to the marathon season. Membership also gives you access to a range of other benefits including seminars and workshops, on-going advice, a choice of weekly training schedule based on your level of experience, discounts on numerous local running products and services, and periodic social events.

  • Age 17 & over
  • Entries open
  • Charity entries closed
  • Charity places
  • Enter online
  • Event merch available
  • Race pack by post

Entry fees

Early bird entry fee

£42.50

Early bird entry fee

£44.50

runner

First time racing the Brighton half and I was really impressed with the setup, atmosphere and location. Super flat so managed to bag my first PB in a while. I will definitely be back again next year to try and improve on this! Thanks, William C

Absolutely love this event. Spectacular views going along the cliffs and seafront and a nice tour of the town. Busy enough to feel supported but not unpleasantly loud or crowded. A few hills but nothing too taxing - the worst bit this year was running into the wind. Loved the seagull medal and t shirt. Can't wait to come back. Suzi B

I love this race and this city; always well organised with unparalleled crowd support. Thomas

A great race in a great place. The Brighton half is a lovely race, with a good few thousand runners it has a big event feel and the start / finish line atmosphere is great. The medal is also a standout and was my favourite medal of 2021. A good course for getting a PB... if the wind is not too strong - as it is a relatively flat race. Connor D