Southampton Marathon Festival Marathon Entry, Date & Race Guide

The ABP Southampton Marathon Festival is a large-scale, multi-distance running event that combines a challenging city marathon with a vibrant festival atmosphere, making it one of the South Coast’s standout race weekends.

Starting and finishing in Southampton city centre, the marathon route takes runners through a mix of urban streets, green parks and waterfront sections, showcasing the city’s varied landscape. The course is undulating, with several notable climbs that make it more of a strength-based challenge than a pure PB course.

What sets the event apart is its festival format, with multiple race distances taking place across the weekend, including half marathon, 10K and shorter options. This creates a lively, inclusive atmosphere with strong crowd support, particularly in central areas and around key spectator points.

The ABP Southampton Marathon Festival attracts a broad range of runners, from first-timers to experienced marathoners, and has built a reputation for solid organisation and an engaging race-day experience.