Cheltenham half marathon (Run Cheltenham) 2026

My husband, sister, brother-in-law and I recently ran Cheltenham half marathon (or Run Cheltenham as it is actually known these days, but nobody calls it that!). It was the 12th time running it for me. It has been going since 2013 and the only one I missed was 2015, when I was injured.

Cheltenham half marathon started, as ever, at Cheltenham Racecourse. Our daughter gave us a lift there (after we got stuck in the car park for an hour a couple of years ago). The traffic was terrible, so we got out the car and walked the last mile and went to find my sister and brother-in-law. The racecourse was already extremely busy.

This year, the 10k race set off before the half marathon. The 10k was scheduled to start at 8:20 and the half marathon at 9am. Neither of them started on time. I think there were 4,700 people running the half marathon and 1,400 running the 10k.

My sister reported that our favourite toilets – the ones with loads of cubicles which never have any queues – weren’t open this year. But later she thought she might have got that wrong. So we joined longer queues for the toilets. There are portaloos on site, but the racecourse has a lot of indoor toilets, of course. We still waited quite a while. After two trips to the toilet, dropping off our bags at the bag drop in The Centaur and chats with various people, we headed for the starting pens. These are on the front car park of the racecourse and a little walk from the toilets.

My sister has a habit of running off too fast. My husband is marathon training and was supposed to run a flat pace and slower than usual. So they decided to run together and maintain a 8:40 minutes per mile pace. My brother-in-law thought he could get a PB and was aiming for 1:41. I thought I might manage similar (my PB is 1:41:11 from last year), so we started in the 1:30 to 1:45 pen.

The race started very slowly. Not only did they let one pen through the start line at a time, they even broke up the pens by putting a rope down after a group of runners had gone through. We started about four minutes after the first runners. The slowest runners started probably 25 minutes afterwards, which must have been very frustrating for them.

At last, we were off! Out of the racecourse and straight down New Barn Lane to the bottom. Then we turned round and went straight back up it (which is uphill) and then through the newish housing estate onto Prestbury Road. My brother-in-law and I started off together, but he soon pulled away from me. I ran pretty fast down New Barn Lane, but I was OK with that. I knew my pace would settle after a mile or so.

At just over two miles, my brother-in-law suddenly appeared at my shoulder and said he’d gone off too fast. He’d been ahead of me, so I’m not sure when I overtook him. But he pulled away from me again.

We approached Cheltenham town centre and turned left. This was the third year of the new course and I’d still forgotten that we did this, rather than run straight on into the town centre. We ran onto The Strand then down Rodney Road, then back onto the route as I remember it – up the Promenade and through Montpellier.

There were crowds everywhere and they were really enthusiastic. So many people were shouting my name, it was lovely. There were a lot of supporters from our running club, but also a lot of people I didn’t know who were shouting my name. At Montpellier, I saw my daughter and her friend, who were there to support us, but also to supporter her best friend.

On the email from the organisers, it said there were five water stations and it seemed that they weren’t very well spaced. But there were at least six – there might have even been seven – and they were every two miles. The water was in paper cups, which is almost impossible to drink from. You really need to stop if you want to drink properly. Luckily, I always carry water and electrolytes with me. I did take water from most of the water stations though to throw over myself.

The running conditions were perfect – not too hot, not sunny, not humid and not rainy. The temperature was around 16 degrees and there was thin cloud and a gentle. cool breeze. You really couldn’t ask for better in September.

From Montpellier, it was on to the loop of The Park (an actual area, not just a random park) and then the loop of Hatherley. As I ran downhill at Hatherley, I felt invincible. I felt like my legs were just working without me and I felt so strong. Not long afterwards, my legs started aching a bit and I was still only at eight miles. I had a gel and kept going.

And suddenly I was at nine miles and coming back through Montpellier and back down the Promenade, through the big Sue Ryder archway and all the buzz and excitement. I felt invincible again. I ran onto the Honeybourne Line and soon it was ‘only a parkrun to go’. Along Albermarle Gate and then onto the challenging bit. There’s a lot of changing direction and a lot of going downhill to go back uphill in Pittville. Down Evesham Road, up Albert Road, a little loop of Pittville Park (which is down and up again), up Evesham Road again and along Hillcourt Road…

As ever, with one of the races which is more important to me, I had a new playlist. When I ran the marathon earlier this year, my coach recommended Let It Go for around mile 20. I didn’t use it because I wanted more of a punk playlist, but this indie and alternative music fan does actually love Let It Go! It came on as I was running through Pittville Park. The words ‘It’s time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through’ somehow felt perfect as I powered on.

Somewhere in Pittville, I saw my niece and her friends, then I overtook my brother-in-law. He said he knew I was close because he was hearing people shout my name! On Hillcourt Road, with less than a mile to go, I overtook a younger woman from our club. Then I was running towards the racecourse and I felt so fast and so strong again. I didn’t think I would beat my PB, but I was a lot closer than I expected to be.

As I ran through the gate to the racecourse, the marshal said ‘Only downhill from here!’. I ran past my parents and nephew, then past the grandstand, which was packed with people. The finish line was in sight and I was flying!

I crossed the line in 1:41:24 – just 13 seconds slower than my PB from last year. I actually wasn’t disappointed to miss out on a PB as I hadn’t expected to get as close to it as that. And in age group percentage terms, I’d done better. I waited with members of our club for my family to cross the line. My brother-in-law missed out on a PB by about the same margin as me, while my husband and sister managed to maintain their pace.

We picked up our Tshirts, medals and goodie bags. The Tshirts were much nicer than last year’s, but the sizing wasn’t good. I’m always a small and it was very tight. My husband is a medium and could hardly get his on! The medals were good quality though.

And we’ve already signed up to do it all again next year!