Brighton Marathon Weekend 2022: Four events ready for return, start times, the marathon route and road closures

Organisers said 20,000 people had registered for the main marathon back in January setting it up to be the largest Brighton Marathon to date. Read more here: Brighton Marathon 2022 set to be the largest to date after a record 20,000 entries registered |

The weather forecast is looking dry and quite cool with a maximum temperature of 11°C according to The Met Office.

The Brighton Marathon will take place on Sunday as part of Brighton Marathon Weekend.

On Friday (April 8), from 1pm, the beach village and expo will be open in Madeira Drive offering food, bars, retail and more. On Saturday (April 9), the Mini Mile Races supporting Chestnut Tree House will be held from 11am until 3pm for participants aged seven to 17.

Then, on Sunday (April 10), those taking part in the BM 50k bike ride will have an early start, setting off from Preston Park at 6.45am. The BM10k will start from Preston Park around 9am before the main marathon participants set off in waves from 9.45am.

It will be the first time since 2019 that all four events have been held and back to the usual April date.

The marathon weekend is organised by Grounded Events and the community partner is American Express.

A Grounded Events spokesman said: “With more than 24,000 people registered to take part across the four events, it’s going to be an incredible return to the usual line up.

“Not only doing something amazing for themselves and their fitness, this year’s participants are making a huge impact by raising awareness and money for charities and causes they care about.

“285 charities have places at the Brighton Marathon weekend and participants have already raised over £1.4million for charities on JustGiving, with fundraising efforts still ongoing.”

Among those running for charity is a team of six staff ad students from the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton who will be pushing an adapted trolley (hospital bed) for the entire 26.2 miles. Read more about them here: Team of Royal Sussex County Hospital students and staff preparing for trolley push at Brighton Marathon |

And Brighton and Hove Albion fan Anthony Sneddon will be taking on the 10k this Sunday as part of his Run2Ukraine challenge. See more on him here: Brighton fan raises £10k and seeks support for Ukraine 1,500 mile run challenge |

American Express vice president, Nikki Edelman, said: “This year’s event is set to be an amazing day with the Sussex community, including many American Express colleagues, coming together to enjoy sport, support local charities and celebrate individual achievement. As Volunteer Team sponsor and Community Partner we’re wishing the best of luck to everyone participating. A huge thank you to the runners, riders, volunteers and all the spectators helping to make this year’s event truly amazing.”

There will be people taking part in the marathon at various paces but the course bests for the men and women are well under 2hrs10min and 2:29, making it the second-fastest marathon in the UK. It is also the second-largest marathon in the UK and eighth-largest in Europe.

In a message to those taking part or spectating, the Brighton Marathon organisers said: “If you are taking part in the Brighton Marathon, BM10k, BM Ride or Mini Mile Races this year, thank you for joining us after such a difficult and uncertain time these past two years.

“If you are coming along to support friends and family that are taking part, we hope you have a brilliant time cheering them on to their finish. We can’t wait to see you all back out in force, enjoying our wonderful city together.”

The route

The route for the main marathon takes runners from Preston Park down towards Brighton seafront but curling back up along Grand Parade by the Royal Pavilion. The runners will loop back and go along St James Street before joining Marine Parade all the way to Ovingdean.

Returning along the coast road all the way to Grand Avenue in Hove, they will run along New Church Road and Church Road up to Boundary Road in Hove, where they will loop back round and back towards Grand Avenue.

They will rejoin the A259 seafront road before heading west to Hove Lagoon and along to the power station.

The final stretch will take them along the promenade at Hove before the rejoin the A259 and make their way to the finish line in Madeira Drive.

Road closures

There will be several road closures on Sunday as the Brighton Marathon, BM10k and BM 50k bike ride are held.

They include:

The A23 by Preston Park (London Road/Preston Road) will be closed from 5.30am until 11.15am, along with Preston Drove and Preston Park Avenue.

Further along the A23 from New England Road and along The Steine will remain closed until 12pm. Sections of Ditchling Road, North Road, Jubilee Street, Church Street , Richmond Place, St Peter’s Place, Union Road, A270 Lewes Road, Franklin Road, Wellington Road, Elm Grove and Grand Parade will also remain closed from 5.30am until 12pm.

St James’s Street and the A259 Marine Parade from Lower Rock Gardens to Roedean Road will be closed until 2.30pm. Greenways, between the A259 and Ainsworth Avenue will be closed from 5.30am until 1.30pm.

The A259 Marine Parade/ Grand Junction Road / Kings Road / Kingsway between Lower Rock Gardens and Grand Avenue will be closed from 5.30am until 5pm.

Grand Avenue, Hove, will be closed from 5.30am until 4pm. New Church Road and Church Road from Grand Avenue to Boundary Road will close from 9am until 4pm.

A259 Kingsway from Grand Avenue, Wharf Road and Basin Road South will all be closed from 5.30am until 4pm.

Keep an eye on the Sussex World website and Facebook pages for photos from the marathon this Sunday.