Everything you need to know ahead of the Lincoln City Half Marathon this weekend

The first Lincoln City Half Marathon will go ahead, for the third attempt, on Sunday, September 18 with over 1,200 runners expected to take part.

The event organised by Curly’s Athletes, in partnership with Lincoln City Foundation, was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The organisers said they spent a lot of time reflecting on “trying to make sure we ‘do the right thing’ regarding the event” after the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

It was decided that the event will go ahead, but parts of the route and the logistics of the race have been amended, with the organisers saying “not everyone is always going to agree and that’s fine” and “we just ask everyone to be nice and hopefully agree that it’s hard to get things 100% all the time”.

An information pack has been released, including a full list of road closures. However, please note that since then some changes have taken plane on Rookery Lane/Newark Road as detailed online here, along with the adjusted route.

The main changes to the original list of road closures are as follows:

• No planned traffic management on Newark Road
• Rookery lane has had one full lane now re-opened allowing easier access/exit for most residents. A closure has been put into place at Blackbourn Road to facilitate the runners crossing.
• Rookery lane advice, for properties and streets South of Blackbourn Rd, please access and exit via Newark road.
• Rookery Lane advice, for properties and streets North of Blackbourn Rd please access via the Skellingthorpe Rd roundabout.

Originally the event planned to use the Boultham Park area for the finish line, with the event village coming through the park for a water station. However, the bandstand is being used as one of the official flower laying sites for The Queen in Lincoln during the official mourning period

Organisers decided to not use this area and re-routed nearly three miles of the course. The event will start shortly after 8.30am on Rookery Lane opposite St Peter’s Avenue, with the first finishers expected at around 9.40am. Participants will be given the opportunity to pay respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a minute’s silence at 8.30am before the race.

The route will no longer go through the main public area, and only the edges, of the park, before finishing at Priory Witham Academy on De Wint Avenue. The grass field at the school will be the new location for the event village for the runners.

All participants will receive a medal with the top three finishing men, women, as well as runners in various age groups, receiving trophies.

| Photo: The Lincolnite

Jono Frary, Director at Curly’s Athletes, told The Lincolnite: “We are feeling really confident now. We had a significant amount of work to do to amend the route and are now in delivery mode.

“We are ready and excited to finally bring the event to Lincoln with our friends at Lincoln City Foundation.”

Alice Carter, head of healthier communities at Lincoln City Foundation, said: “We are very grateful to the team at Priory Witham Academy for being so supportive when Boultham Park was no longer available to us.

“We know people have worked so hard to build up fitness for the run, and are raising money for some fantastic causes, and we hope it will be a real celebration of life and the local area – and we may even see a few people in red, white or blue to celebrate the life of her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

Alice added: “With a number of memorial events meaning some volunteers have been unable to join us, we are still looking for a few people to help us put on a memorable event. Anyone interested can contact us directly via [email protected].”