Town set for 'amazing' half-marathon

The rebranded Amazing Northampton Run will be held on 17 September

A race organiser hopes a rebranded half-marathon can help "showcase" a town.

The Amazing Northampton Run will be held on 17 September, with a record 1,300 runners signed up.

The event, which was previously known simply as the Northampton Half-Marathon, was first held in 2013.

The 13.1 mile (21.1km) route will begin and end in the town centre and pass by the town’s three premier sports clubs.

The previous route began in the town before heading out to the surrounding countryside and Brackmills Industrial Estate before finishing at Delapre Abbey.

"We're doing something which has never been done before in Northampton," said Simon Hollis, from race organisers Go Beyond Challenge.

"It means a lot to me personally, there have been months and months of work to get to this point.

"I'm biased, but it is a fantastic route. I'm excited to help showcase Northampton. I hope the event can help turn the tide on the way people look at the town".

The Amazing Northampton Run will start and finish in the town centre

After leaving Abington Street in the town centre, the new route follows the River Nene to Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium before turning back and passing Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens.

Runners will also pass by Northamptonshire County Cricket Club’s County Ground, The Racecourse, Abington Park and the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus.

The race will begin at 09:30 BST, with road closures starting from 08:30.

Mr Hollis accepted that road closures for the new town centre route "could be perceived as negative", but said "we are talking about two to three hours one day a year".

The 1,300 entrants so far will surpass the previous race record of about 1,100 participants set in 2019.

The race organiser previously said that the town’s running community had positively "lit up" about the rebranded run.

Race organisers hope the event will attract runners in their thousands