Swindon Half Marathon returns after six years
It is now organised by RunThrough
Thousands of runners are set to line Swindon's streets today as the Swindon Half Marathon is back for the first time since the pandemic.
The 13.1 mile (21.1km) challenge starts at Coate Water at 9am and will then wind its way through Wanborough, Badbury and Medbourne before heading back to Coate Water again.
Drivers have been warned to “plan ahead and allow extra time for travel” as road closures will be in place throughout the morning.
One of the 3,000 expected participants is AJ Parker-Triggs.
He already took on a number of half marathons ahead of 2020 but said this year will be different.
“It's quite a difficult event to prepare for because you don't know the full route. You don't know the terrain and things like that”, he said.
“I used to live in Swindon, so I knew roughly the route and it was easy to sort of prepare for, but looking at the route that they've selected this year it’s very different to previous years.”
While the Swindon Half Marathon does not require participants to run for a charity, Mr Parker-Triggs is supporting local anti-knife crime organisation Owen’s World, which he is a bleed kit trainer for.
The charity was set up after 18-year-old Owen Dunn was stabbed to death in Mazurek Way on 4 December 2022.
“There's a lot of people that run for cancer charities or children's charities and things like that, but I like to choose the ones that are not as well advertised and not that well-known to the greater public, just to raise awareness that, actually, these smaller charities do exist and they are also in need of funding as well as these bigger national charities”, he explained.
“Our goal is to reduce knife crime and raise awareness to everybody that knife crime is on the rise and we all need to do our part to raise awareness that a lot of people are becoming victims.
“Whether that's the person that's been victim to a knife crime incident or families, friends, colleagues. All of all of those, every person is affected, even communities where individuals live. And we need to fight for change and to get better laws in place for knife crime incidents.”
So far, he has raised £645 which will go towards new bleed kits and anti-knife crime events.
The half marathon is taking place along a Road Closed route – meaning that stretches of road will be closed from the time the first runner reaches them to when the last runner leaves.
Closures are expected to be as follows:
Marlborough Road – 08:58–09:13 Dorcan Way (Southbound) – 08:30–09:40 Kingfisher Drive – 08:30–09:50 Wanborough Road – 08:30–10:10 Burycroft, The Marsh – 08:30–10:30 Pack Hill, Church Road – 08:30–10:45 King Edwards Road – 08:30–11:10 The Ridgeway, Aldbourne Road – 08:30–11:45 Badbury Lane, Medbourne Road – 08:30–12:00 Medbourne Lane, Meadow Way, Homington Avenue – 08:30–12:15 Day House Lane – 08:30–12:30
All roads will be open again as usual in the afternoon.