Belfast City Marathon important travel advice

The 26.2 mile marathon route runs through all four areas of Belfast; North, South, East and West, starting at Stormont Estate and finishing in Ormeau Park.

As a result motorists can expect some disruption throughout the morning and early afternoon, although every attempt will be made to ensure that this is kept to a minimum.

Roads will start to close wholly or partially from around 6am until 4pm approximately.

Once all runners have passed points on the route, reopening of the roads will be managed as quickly as possible.

John Allen, chairman of the Belfast City Marathon organising committee, said: “We are delighted to see the momentum behind the Mash Direct Belfast City Marathon and wish everyone the very best of luck taking on the 2023 Mash Direct Belfast City Marathon, Team Relay and 8 Mile Walk on Sunday April 30. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to each and every one of our volunteers who generously donated their time and played a key role in making the event ‘run’ smoothly.

“We appreciate the impact and inconvenience of traffic disruption on race day, but ask that motorists please follow the traffic diversion signs and take direction from stewards. "These traffic management measures are set up to prioritise safety for participants and road users.”

The Mash Direct Belfast City Marathon route is mainly the same as the 2022 ‘running’, with revisions in Belfast City Centre and in North Belfast.

Runners will now take a right off Chichester Street onto Donegal Place, left onto Castle Street, left onto Queens Street and right onto Wellington Place.

Runners will also now turn left off Falls Road onto North Howard Street, right onto North Howard Link, left onto Northumberland Street, through the crossroads onto Agnes Street, left onto Crumlin Road and right onto Oldpark Road.

Full details of the route, roads affected and predicted time of closures, and projected participant times can be found by clicking here.

The area around Stormont and Upper Newtownards Road will be closed to through traffic between approximately 6am – 10.30am, as the runners make their way towards Beersbridge, Castlereagh and Montgomery Road areas.

A full road closure will then be in place on the Ravenhill Road (Albertbridge Road to Ormeau Embankment) from 7am – 11.30am.

Some disruption can be expected in the city centre approximately between 8.30am – 12.30pm with full road closures in place on Chichester Street, Wellington Place, May Street, Donegall Square and Howard Street areas.

Some further disruption can be expected on the Boucher Road (Tates Avenue to Stockmans Lane) with a full road closure between 8am – 1.30pm approximately, as runners make their way onto Lislea Drive and Lisburn Road, marking their marathon halfway point.

Another point where disruption can be expected is in the Andersonstown Road and Falls Road areas with lane closures and full road closures in place from approximately 9.30am – 2pm.

Full road closures will be in place at approximately 9.30am – 3pm from North Howard Street, North Howard Link, Northumberland Street and Agnes Street.

Full road closures will also be in place from approximately 9:30am – 3pm in Antrim Road areas with a Team Relay changeover point taking place on North Queen Street.

Some disruption will also take place again in the city centre as runners take on the final stretch of the marathon from Donegall Quay onto Oxford Street and Lanyon Place (full road closure 9.30am – 3pm).

Runners will make their way up Ormeau Road to the Rosetta Roundabout and complete their journey down Ravenhill Road, onto Ormeau Embankment for the finish at the Ozone Tennis Centre, Ormeau Park.

For more information click here or look out for updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Mash Direct Belfast City Marathon and Half Marathon is sponsored by Mash Direct, Athletics Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, Daily Mirror, Better, Belfast Live, Cool FM, Downtown Radio, Downtown Country, Translink, Deep RiverRock, CompareNI.com, Tayto, Charles Hurst and Linwoods. The official charity partner is Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.