Which Half Marathons are most tolerant towards Slow Runners?

[Imstyledilemma]

I'm determined to try a half marathon next yea,r but want my first experience to be a positive one, in a friendly atmosphere.
Which marathons are well known for being tolerant towards all abilities?

thanks.

[AuntieStella]

I don't really know, but I would look out for ones which offer a lot of charity or community places.

[MissSueFlay]

Ealing Half in west London is a great one - we've stood cheering on runners / walkers who are coming in at nearly 4 hours. They close the roads for it (which many of them like the Richmond Half don't). They do get people doing it very fast, but there are a lot of fun and charity runners, and there's great local support all along the route.

[MarmaladeIsMyJam]

Liverpool Rock n Roll! Loads of support, great bands and great medal!

[sheepysheep]

Lots of websites have results from previous years so you can check how many people got round at the same time / slower than you think you might. They also publish cut off times.

I'm a bit of a plodder (range from 2h28m to 2h40m) - I've done Cardiff, the great north run and Blackpool and all were great. I was one of the last at Blackpool both years but no where near last at Cardiff or Gateshead. The atmosphere at the GNR was just amazing but it's another bloody ballot and it's v expensive (c£50). I'm probably going to do Blackpool as it's cheap and I'm in the north - it's in February.

People are really nice and friendly - and in my experience are not at all sneery about plodders. But, if you are slow start near the back. Faster running PB chasers do get pissed off if they have to weave around people; also if you start at the back you get to overtake people who've gone out too quick which gives you a good mental boost when you're starting to get tired :-)

[Imstyledilemma]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I want my first half to have a good atmosphere. If it's too elitist I think it will put me off attempting another.

I know myself too well!

[Imstyledilemma]

I'm tempted towards entering the GNR ballot.

[123rd]

Where abouts roughly are you Op?
There are tonnes of HM around the country.

[SomewhatIdiosyncratic]

Bigger ones will tend to attract slower/ less experienced HMers.

My area ran one for a couple of years which didn't attract a huge crowd. There was definitely a bias to faster runners. I run in a perfectly respectable 2hr 12 and found that I was in a quiet gap between the 2hr slot and a cluster around 2:30.

Courses that go through residential areas tend to get more support. Sadly my local races go through a lot of industrial/ commercial estate as it's easy to close off which is dull! Along the river is quiet for crowd support, but much prettier!

Finish times will be a good guide. 3 hours is quite common as a cut off.

[rookiemere]

I'm pretty slow - 2 hrs 45 and have done the Great North Run, Edinburgh Half and the Glasgow half in October. They've all been fine - I've not been the last by any means.

[rookiemere]

GNR has a great atmosphere - definitely try to enter for that.

[overnightangel]

Cumbrian Run in Carlisle every September is really friendly and tends to see a lot of people doing their first race of that length, only heard good things from people I k ow who've done it, depends how far away you are.

[TriGirl007]

Anyone done Bath HM? I’ve entered it as my first HM in March 2018, and guessed a time of 2.30 I’m hoping it will be more 2.20 but i doubt I’ll be faster, based on my 12k time.

[marywinchester]

both Taunton and Barnstaple have full marathons the same day as their half marathons so the cut off time is around 6ish hours. i'm sure there are other marathons/half marathons that do this so maybe one of those would be an option.

[IrianOfW]

Where are you? I've only done halfs in the West Country so I can only advise on those. If you are worried about pace go for the races with a bigger field. But really, don't worry, you'll be so elated when you finish your first half you won't care about anything else!!

[IrianOfW]

Tri - bath is very pretty obviously but there were some issues last year, lack of water and not enough medals!! But I am sure they'll iron those problems out this year. My info came mostly from a club member who DNF so didn't have the most impartial view 😄

[soupmaker]

I did the GNR years ago and it was fantastic. If you don’t want to put yourself at the mercy of a ballot come to Glasgow in October. It’s a great course and you’ll not be swept up at a slow pace.

[trevortrevorslattery]

Loads of slow runners in GNR! Go for it 😊

[Runwayqueen]

Tri... I did bath in 2.41 this year and got a medal, had no problem with fluids on the course. I do think I was one of the last to get a medal though, within 5 mins of my time the medal and tshirt problem hit.

Cardiff was great, think they suggest a 4hr limit but they were still giving medals at the 4.30 mark. Exeter GWR was 3hrs, then you moved onto pavements.

[ScaryDuck]

Any of the big ones will have plenty slow people. I've done GNR, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh. All great atmospheres and runners of all sorts - Glasgow probably my favourite (GNR was a bit busy for me!)

[RunningOutOfCharge]

Reading half in march!!

Brilliant organisation with race angels for those struggling

And a great stadium finish!!

[TriGirl007]

Thanks runawayqueen for infor - I hadn’t realised that Exeter were quite so strict cut off I’m hoping to do that next year as not ready this year.

[RamblingFar]

Anything organised by www.nice-work.org.uk or www.theraceorganiser.com. I've never been too slow for either, even when having a shocking race.

I also did Keswick half last year really slowly, but it's a challenging course.

[TriJo]

Reading half is fantastic, would be very tolerant of slower runners too. Closed roads and a big field.

[thismeansnothing]

Where abouts are you based OP. Fylde coast runners (in the north west) their events marathon halves and 10milers have no cut off and most welcome Nordic walkers too

[thismeansnothing]

I've done Liverpool rock and roll half and English half marathon in Warrington. Both great events and I finished around the 2hr30 mark and there were still plenty of supporters and great atmosphere