Photo: Coventry City Council

17th March 2018

The 2018 Coventry Half Marathon, which was set to take place on Sunday 18th March, has been cancelled.

The event, organised by the Coventry University Students' Union, was announced to be no longer taking place on Friday, with a statement from enjoycoventry.com saying "the event has been cancelled due to the Met Office forecast of adverse weather conditions."

It comes after the United Kingdom has once again been plunged back into a bitterly easterly wind, after a relatively mild and spring-like week.

Coventry has experienced multiple snow showers today, and these are expected to continue into tomorrow. The Met Office says there will be "further snow showers overnight with the potential for some more persistent snow to push up from the south by [Sunday] dawn."

The organisers have decided that this, along with an ice risk and a forecasted -8 degree wind chill, was enough to bring the event to a close, citing that they were "particularly concerned about the safety of volunteers and stewards."

The Half Marathon on Cox Street in 1983. | Photo: geograph.org.uk

Raj Bansal (@rajbansal88) is an enthusiastic marathon runner, and was due to attend the Coventry Half. Mr. Bansal had mixed emotions regarding the reasoning for the cancellation.

"The weather forecast didn't look too bad, especially yesterday when the race was cancelled and the sun was shining!"

However, Mr. Bansal conceded: "You have to think about the all the runners, volunteers and getting to the race on the day. A lot of factors need considering."

When asked about whether this affected his personal plans, he was remarkably upbeat about the situation. "This race was part of my marathon training for Manchester in a few weeks, so it was a shame it was cancelled, but [I] will have to to get out running myself instead!"

The news will come as a disappointment to locals who wanted a first try at marathon running. The next marathon event in the local area is the Shakespeare Marathon, due to be held at Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday 13th May.

"If someone was looking to get into distance running, I'd suggest joining their local running club", Mr. Bansal explained.

"Nothing beats having some people to train with and learn from. Running clubs cover a whole spectrum of runner [ability] and are always the most welcoming bunch of people."

This change of schedule will now mean that buses and roads will operate as normal on Sunday.