Sunday 26th September will see the 39th running of the Barns Green Half Marathon and the 5th year of the 10km race which last year attracted almost 600 runners. The event is organized and run entirely by volunteers and all the money raised goes towards supporting local clubs, sports clubs and societies as well as different charities. Since the event began in 1982, this unique village event has raised a huge amount of money for charity.

The population of Barns Green is doubled on race day as hundreds of people flock into the village to run and to support friends and family who are taking part. On the Green there is a great family atmosphere and lots to do and enjoy. There is a funfair, stalls, lots to eat and drink and a jazz band playing. There are also two announcers on a loudspeaker system keeping everybody uptodate with everything that is going on including details of how each race is going and information on the race leaders

The half marathon is made up of two loops. Runners start at exactly 10am in the centre of Barns Green and come through the start/finish line at roughly the halfway point of the race. All roads are closed during the race.  The 10k starts at 10.20am and follows some of the half marathon route and includes an extra section through the beautiful grounds of Christ’s Hospital School

Last year over 2,000 runners registered to take part in the two races which run on closed roads. The half marathon route goes through Barns Green, Brooks Green, Itchingfield, the grounds of Christ’s Hospital School, Dragons Green and close to Southwater in what is one of the most scenic races in the country which includes the grounds of Christ’s Hospital School. Along the route, there are hoards of people supporting the runners and cheering them on. There are a number of different types of bands playing on the race routes to entertain the supporters and keep the runners motivated.

There will be a warm up for all the runners before the race which will be done by two of Bluecoat Sports’ fitness instructors.  This will take place just before the races start so that everyone is nicely warmed up and ready to go.

There is electronic chip timing so that each runner knows their exact time and experienced pacemakers will be running in both races so that runners of all abilities can plan the exact pace that they want to run at.

One of the most popular features of the races is the Fancy Dress Runners sponsored by ChilliPepperTV. Each year a variety of runners turn up dressed as Batman, Dames, Skeletons, Witches, Wizards and Babies. One year it was a Harry Hill lookalike that won the first prize! There are 5 fancy dress prizes – 1st £60, 2nd £50, 3rd £40, 4th £30, and 5th £20.