St Helena Hospice Half Marathon

Race Description

The half marathon is the longer of St Helena Hospice's two October closed-road distances through Harwich, running the same undulating loop as the 10k twice rather than covering fresh ground - a double lap of Low Road, Gravel Hill Way and Abbott Road, out past old Harwich and back along the sea-view promenade, before finishing near Race HQ on Marine Parade.

Starting slightly earlier than the 10k, the half marathon field has the roads more or less to itself for the first lap before the shorter-distance runners join partway round, which keeps the later stages busy rather than thinning out toward the finish. Doing the loop twice means twice the harbour views and twice the undulation, so while there's no single defining climb, the repeated rolling terrain adds up to a genuine test over 13.1 miles rather than a flat PB hunt.

As with the 10k, every entry goes toward St Helena Hospice's palliative and end-of-life care work across north east Essex, and the day is built around that purpose - an event village, a bespoke finisher's medal, and a scale of local support that a town Harwich's size doesn't usually attract for a run this length. It suits runners who want their long-distance training to mean something beyond a number on the clock, and who'd rather spend 13 miles taking in Harwich's maritime history and working harbour than pounding a more anonymous half marathon route elsewhere in the county.