This Sunday, thousands of people will be taking part in the ABP Southampton Marathon, running various distances around some of our city’s most iconic landmarks.
We’re excited to be supporting a team of runners from our own community! Taking on either a half marathon or full marathon, staff, students and alumni will be representing our University as they tackle the route, which will wind through our own Highfield Campus.
A number of our runners are also raising money for two of our own charities: The Ignite Programme and the Centre for Cancer Immunology.
We want to take this opportunity to wish all our University runners the very best of luck for the big day. We will be cheering you on all the way!
Some of our runners will be wearing their University t-shirts – so make sure you give them extra encouragement if you see them!
Come and support our runners on campus
If you’re planning to watch the event, why not join us on Highfield Campus? Everyone’s invited to our Celebration Campus event on Sunday 24 April from 10:00 until 14:00.
It’s the perfect place to support all runners, including your family, friends and colleagues, as they tackle the route.
There will also be live music from our own student community, and local food to enjoy as you soak up the atmosphere.
Find out more, including details about performance times, on our marathon webpage.
We hope you enjoy this exciting day in our city’s calendar – whether you’re taking part as a runner or volunteer, or planning to enjoy the celebrations.
Hear from our runners
We’ll be catching up with our runners in upcoming SUSSED and Staff Matters articles, but here’s a teaser from two of them on what’s inspired them to join up:
“I am walking the half marathon to jump-start my fitness routine this year. I signed up for another half marathon later in the year and perhaps I will run that one, but I’m just getting started. I have never done any races or 5km/10km before, so I just want to finish the half marathon and feel good about that.”
Dr Jennifer Williams – Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Citizen-Centric AI)
“I really enjoy running and joined Southampton University Athletics and Cross Country at the end of semester two last year after taking up running in June 2020. I wanted to represent the University and get a funded place first time completing Southampton Half.
“I enjoy the community feeling of big events and the sportsmanship of the event and crowds cheering you on for motivation. I am excited to run around the city in routes I am familiar with and see people running I know, and all support each other. Hoping for a personal best!”
Katherine Fry – BSc Adult Nursing
