Event Outline

One of the highlights of the Northern running calendar, the Bradford City Run consisted of a Half Marathon, Half-Marathon Relay and a Fun Run featuring over two thousand participants in total.

The half marathon circuit began at the famous Alhambra Theatre and took in both the urban architecture and beautiful Bradford and Bronte countryside before finishing in the award-winning Lister Park, where the Fun Run took place. There was also a large Event Village here with a range of activities, stalls and entertainment.

The event was designed not only to put Bradford on the national running map but to enthuse and encourage residents to get active, which it did in abundance with the participants reflecting the wide diversity of the city.

Naturally a half marathon in Bradford is not going to be flat nor set record times and so we played on this with a special King and Queen of the Mountain competition giving a special prize for the fastest man and the fastest woman up the 1:5 gradient Highgate Hill near the end of the course.

The event was designed in conjunction with the Bradford Athletic Network, a partnership of the local clubs, to ensure that it linked in to their programmes and that new runners attracted by the challenge of the event had a continuation pathway to follow, as well as training meetings, running buddies and mentors. All the clubs experienced a growth in membership following the events.

We organised every aspect of the event including concept design, route design, traffic management for the fully closed 13mile circuit, marketing, entry administration, health and safety, route management, results and timing services and nurturing the partnerships with the local athletic network. A significant part of the event was the local consultations we carried out to ensure a seamless traffic management operation and minimal disruption to the city.

The Fun Run was unique in that participants could run as far as they wished - the course was a 1km loop in Lister Park which entrants could tackle as many times as they wanted in an hour long period, making it suitable for people of all ages and abilities. There was also a special 'Schools Trophy' awarded to the school with the highest number of participants.

In the participant post-event survey we conducted each year over 90% of the runners rated it as good or excellent.

The Bradford City Run was an inspiring event that was full of community spirit! It continued for several years from 2009 until changes in the city meant it was not possible to continue.

 "The Bradford City Run is a terrific event and I'm really looking forward to getting behind everyone taking part."

Councillor Naveeda Ikram, Lord Mayor of Bradford, 2011

The event received wide spread coverage including features on regional TV and an 8 page spread in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus through a partnership we arranged.