New Belfast City Marathon plans get off and running

The council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee approved the plans with broad, cross-party support for the new look event, which for decades has seen thousands descend upon Northern Ireland’s capital city each May.

Typically costing around £600k annually, the Belfast City Marathon normally takes place on a Bank Holiday Monday, however next year the starter’s pistol will go off on a Sunday morning.

Chair of the City Growth committee, SDLP representative Donal Lyons, said the marathon is a great family day out and the 2019 routes should benefit local traders.

“The change of day will go down well, because it will allow Sunday marathon runners the day to recovery on Monday and hopefully give Belfast a potential boost for the our tourism trade,” he added.

Sinn Fein’s new council group leader Ciaran Beattie spoke following the meeting and said his party hope “route number one” of the two proposed routes will now go through a successful public consultation with few, if any, speed bumps.

“We’re really happy, this will be the most balanced marathon yet in terms of geography and it will touch every part of our city,” he said.

“It will now go down streets and neighbourhoods that it hasn’t been before: the Lisburn Road, Finaghy to Anderstown and finishing in Ormeau.

“Parts of south Belfast and the Waterworks will now be included and, of course, everyone along the whole route will be consulted over any concerns.”

New, more intricate routes for the course mean extra stewards will be required to handle the large, scattered crowds, costing an extra £50,000, bringing the total potential bill for next year’s event to around £650,000.

Several representatives felt this extra cash would be recouped and more through trade and tourism.

The marathon is not delivered and organised by BCC, rather Belfast City Marathon Limited - a free standing, legally constituted organisation that has no actual legal connection to the council, except in relation to funding.

Changing the race to a Sunday was recommended to organisers in a request from the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, who said the first May Bank Holiday should be a significant trading day and a move to a Sunday race would boost visitor numbers.

The plans discussed at Wednesday’s meeting were drawn up with the input of a number of interested parties, including the PSNI, DfI, Translink and Athletics NI, with Belfast City Marathon Limited also engaging with some churches along the way.