The organisers of Brighton Marathon have hailed this year’s weekend of running celebrations as the “biggest and best yet”.
More than 14,000 people took part in the major event on Sunday (April 12), bringing the total number of people to have taken part in the 2026 Brighton Marathon Weekend to more than 20,000.
A blustery day in Brighton made it tough for the record-breaking numbers tackling the event, but they were spurred on by the incredible levels of support throughout the route, from the start at Preston Park to the finish at Hove Lawns.
A spectator holds a sign during The Brighton Marathon (Image: David Cliff for London Marathon Events)
At the front of the race, Horsham’s Sam Cook won the men’s title for a second year in a row, finishing in 2:25:04, while Brighton Phoenix’s Amy Harris was another local winner, crossing the line first in the women’s race in 2:49:38.
Sam Cook (Image: Alex Shute)
At the other end of the field, there was an event first, with a group of ploggers – jogging litter pickers – working as a team to complete the marathon and pick up discarded rubbish on the way– including an estimated 22,000 gel wrappers – in a new sustainability initiative.
The Brighton Marathon was the centrepiece event of the weekend which saw events that stretched from an Official Shakeout Run on Friday night to the family-friendly Brighton Miles on Saturday. Sunday saw a trio of events: the Brighton and Hove 10K, the Brighton Marathon and the new Brighton Trail Marathon.
Organised by trail running specialists Maverick Race, and the first of its kind in the UK, the Brighton Trail Marathon saw participants run 36k off road on the South Downs before joining the final 6K of the Brighton Marathon route and completing their run under the same finish arch as the Brighton Marathon participants.
Amy Harris (Image: Alex Shute Photography)
Joe Carter, Brighton Marathon Weekend event director, said: “This has been the best and biggest Brighton Marathon Weekend ever. More than 20,000 people have taken part in one of our fantastic events over the weekend and today a record-breaking 14,000 people took on tough, blustery conditions to complete the Brighton Marathon.
“They were supported every step of the way by an incredible number of spectators who created a fantastic atmosphere in the city for everyone who took part. We are also proud that while increasing participant numbers, we’re improving our sustainability initiatives every year and the introduction of our team of ploggers this year, who collected rubbish throughout the whole route, showed the importance of delivering not just the best marathon, but also the greenest marathon in our history.
“Entries for the 2027 Brighton Marathon are open now and we expect the event to be even better again next year, so sign up and be part of it.”
Standout stories and important causes
Among the thousands completing the Brighton Marathon was brail artist Clarke Reynolds, who has become the first blind person to complete a marathon using Meta Glasses and Be My Eyes. Be My Eyes uses an online community of sighted volunteers to help blind and visually impaired people to identify objects and manage everyday situations. Since the start of his training, roughly 400 volunteers helped Clarke to cross the marathon finish line.
Clarke said: “The idea around this was to empower the sight- loss community. You don’t have to do a marathon; the idea is that you could even just go for a walk in the park with this technology as a blind person. You can also have someone there for even just half an hour to be your friend.
“Without the people in my ears, I would have given up at mile 15, the support was outstanding.”
Nuala Smyth, 62, from Littlehampton, completed her 228th marathon and has finished every edition of the Brighton Marathon since 2010. In June 2023, Nuala was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer but in a bid to turn her diagnosis into something meaningful, she has continued to run, raising thousands of pounds in the process, including almost £5,000 for Sussex Cancer Fund.
Nuala believes that running has given her both the physical and mental strength to keep going and stay positive and has allowed her to manage her treatment in the best way possible. She is also going to be running the TCS London Marathon in two weekends time.
John Washbourne, 41, from Shoreham, took part to support the British Heart Foundation. After finishing the run, he said: “I’ve had an awesome day. I feel a bit emotional because it’s been absolutely amazing. The crowds were insanely good; I don’t think I would have got through it without every single person out there supporting. People were giving out sweets and drinks and jelly babies and oranges – and sausage rolls, which I don’t think helped.
Brighton Marathon 2026 (Image: Alex Shute Photography)
“I’ve got my two children here with me today, and my wife, my mum and step dad, my friend Laura and her daughter, so it’s been a really good day. I’ll definitely do it again; it’s been amazing.
“I was running for my dad, who passed away a few years ago.”
Pippa Washbourne, John’s mum, said: “His dad was 42 when he died of a heart attack. John is going to be 42 this year, so there’s even more reason to be here today. We’re ultra proud of him.”
Seaford Striders celebrates 40 years
More than 50 members of inclusive running club Seaford Striders took part in the 10K and marathon today to celebrate the club’s 40th anniversary. Founded in 1986 by a group of friends, the Seaford Striders now have more than 400 members aged between six and – 80 years old.
One of them was Victoria Maleska, 65, from Seaford, who said afterwards: “This is the first big event in our celebration year, and we’ve had 52 people complete the marathon with 20 people doing it for the first time. It was such a brilliant atmosphere. I’m used to the wind because I live by the coast; we all trained in the wind.
“I want to give a shoutout to Sandra who ran her first marathon today at the age of 76, she did couch-to 5K with me nine years ago and when I heard she was signing up, I didn’t have an excuse not to do it.”
Event atmosphere:
New for this year was the Pride Promenade in Kings Road to celebrate Brighton’s LGBTQIA+ community. Positioned just before mile 18, the colourful takeover delivered bold music and a powerful crowd boost as marathon participants headed into the final stretch.