The Sheffield Half Marathon is an annual

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

held in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was started as a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

in 1929 for two years, with a half marathon run at the same time. It restarted again 1946 after the Second World War. In 2003 it was reduced to a half marathon and 3-kilometre fun run. Moving from Hillsborough in 1991, the race started and finished at

Don Valley Stadium Don Valley Stadium was a sports stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The venue, which was completed in September 1990, hosted the 1991 World Student Games. It was designed by Sheffield City Council's Design & Building Services and nam ...

, the stadium where

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

trained, until the stadium's closure was announced in 2013. The race is gold graded by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

. The 10 chosen charities for the 2009 event were Sheffield Teenage Cancer Trust, Motor Neurone Disease Association South Yorkshire, Macmillan Cancer Support, Myasthenia Gravis Association, RSPCA Sheffield, Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre South Yorkshire, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind and Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. The 2009 Sheffield Half Marathon was sponsored by SIG Insulations and took place on 26 April 2009 at Sheffield International Venues managed facility Don Valley Stadium at 9:30 am. The 2010 Marathon was held 25 April. The 2014 race, on 6 April, was due to start and finish at the Don Valley Stadium, but was cancelled at the last minute due to the expected delivery of water bowsers not arriving.

South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings. T ...

initially set up roadblocks in order to try to stop those runners that had set off, but later decided to let them carry on for safety reasons. Despite the cancellation, organisers refused to refund runners, which one entrant described as "pretty disgusting". Deputy Prime Minister and Sheffield Hallam MP

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

has called for a "full explanation" of how the "farcical situation" was allowed to happen. From 2015, the race relocated to the city centre, with the starting point on Arundel Gate and the finish line on Pinstone Street. The route took runners up Ecclesall Road and out to Ringinglow, before returning through Dore and back down Ecclesall Road. It was re-branded as the Plusnet Yorkshire Half Marathon as part of the Run For All Yorkshire Marathon series. The new route features over 850 feet of elevation gain in the first 5 and a half miles, including a category 3 climb. In addition to the overall race time, runners are timed on a single-mile climb (King/Queen of the Hill) and a 10 km mostly downhill "sprint" section.

Recent winners

Source:

Half Marathon

Marathon

References

External links

Official site

ARRS Marathon race series
Sports competitions in Sheffield Half marathons in the United Kingdom Athletics competitions in England {{marathon-stub