When is the Severn Bridge Half Marathon? Sunday 27th August. 9:30 am.
What arrangements are you making in respect of coronavirus? It seems likely that a standard rolling start format will be used. You assemble in large 'pens' set out behind the start according to your running pace, them move forward over the timing mats to start. See the 'event overview' page for more details on this.
How far is the Half Marathon? 13.1 miles or 21.1 kms. The course has been accurately measured by an accredited ARC course official.
Who can run a half marathon? Anyone! You do not need to be a member of running club but you will need to train for it. See our training programme here. Last year over half of our finishers were not affiliated to a running club.
Am I too slow to run this race. What is the cut off time? The official cut off time for the race is 3 hours. This is 13 mins 45 secs per mile. At the point where you re-join the motorway itself after the 1st lap, if you have not arrived by 11:10am, you will be asked to continue directly to the finish instead of starting the 2nd lap (based on 13 mins 45 secs pace). There is no flexibility in this as the motorway must open on time and clearly no runners can be on the motorway when it does.
What is the entry limit in 2022? It's 1350 in total for both the Half and 10k.
When will you send out final race day details? - Before Wed 16th August (midday)
When do entries close? When the race limit of 1350 has been reached - we have sold out every year the event has taken place.
When is the latest you are accepting transfers? You can transfer your place to another person right up until Wednesday 17th August (midday). No transfers on-line after then. The same applies to changing your race distance from say the 10k to the Half Marathon. Do this anytime up until 17th August. But after 17th no on-line changes will be possible.
Can I walk part of the way? The race is open to runners of all standards. However, it is a RUN and we and the authorities who have given their permission, expect that all competitors will run the majority of the course.
Whilst it is acceptable to walk parts of the course we feel everyone should be fit enough to run at least to the first drinks station at about 5K.
Do I have to support the official charities or can I run for my own cause. You can support one of our official charities, one of your own or choose not to raise funds for any charity at all. We'd like to encourage everyone to support one of our official charities - but you don't have to.
How old must I be to take part? The race will be permitted by UKA and they state that all participants must be over 17.
Will there be enough toilets? Yes. Last year we provided double the quantity of toilets in two separate locations and Mike our 'loo' coordinator ensured any queues that formed were small. We always provide multiple urinal stations to help speed things up.
Are there water stations? Yes - 3 on the half route, then the finish. Every 5k.
Can I run with a buggy? Possibly - please email as before the event if you'd like to.
Can I use my headphones, ipod, mp3 player etc whilst taking part? We recognize that many runners will train while listening to music. However, due to safety reasons we can not allow you to use headphones/earphones etc for the race. Although much of the course is traffic free, there are some points at which it is vital you listen to the instructions of both the marshals and the traffic management officials. This ruling applies to bone conducting headphones too (the UKA allows organisers to make their own decisions on this).
Will there be changing facilities and a baggage store? No changing facilities but there will be an outside attended baggage point.
How far away is the car park? The free car park areas are within 5 minutes walk of the race HQ and are free.
Where does the race start and finish? The race starts on the M48 motorway. Allow 20 mins to get there from the race HQ. The race finishes at the event village HQ where the toilets, catering outlets and goody bag collection points are located.
Will there be expected time markers at the start? Yes there will be zones at the start that correspond to expected finishing times. Please stand in the section you feel is nearest to your estimated finishing time.
Will there be official pacers? Yes - actual times TBC.
Will the roads be closed for the race? Yes - the entire route will be on the closed motorway.
What is the course like? Is it hilly? No the course is not hilly but like nearly all half marathons there are some undulations. The elevation change on the Severn Bridge Half Marathon is smaller to many other well know half marathons. If you see the overall height gain quoted as more then it's probably because map data and satellite tracks from GPS watches assume you drop to sea level when you cross the Severn and Wye rivers, both on the way out and on the way back - clearly the bridges take you above the water!
If I find I can't run can I have a refund? No, unfortunately we are unable to refund you once you have entered the race. However, you can transfer your place to another person (deadline is Wed 16th August (midday) for on-line changes due to numbers being printed up with names. After that you will only be able to transfer on the day of the event). You can process the transfer yourself by logging in as you did to enter and just change the details for the new runner. Please see our refunds and cancellation policy here.
Can I run even though I haven't entered, using a friends number? Absolutely not. This would be very irresponsible and can cause many difficulties. In 2016 - a younger man wore a female friends number and his time placed him as the 2nd female overall. This meant that the actual 2nd placed female and the 3rd female missed out on their award - it also caused a lot of confusion at prize giving. There are also well documented cases where runners wearing the wrong numbers and needing medical treatment cause unnecessary difficulties and grief for the both the emergency services and friends and families.
When will my race number/pack arrive? This year you will need to collect your race number at the event village either on the day or the day before. All communication will be by via email and through this website, so please read your emails and check back here occasionally for any updates - emails often fall victim to spam filters. Once you have entered we will be emailing you a race newsletter every now and then in the lead up to the race.
When will the results be published? Race results will be available on-line a short time after the last finisher is in.