Derry council decision to alter half marathons criticised

The Waterside Half Marathon will alternate with the Strabane-Lifford Half Marathon yearly from 2024

A decision to change a half marathon race in Londonderry from an annual event to one held every two years could be "the final nail in the coffin" for the event, a former organiser has said.

Derry City and Strabane District Council have said the race will run bi-annually from next year onwards.

The race will now alternate each year with the Strabane-Lifford Half Marathon as part of a cost-saving exercise.

Both events will be held in 2023, but only one race will go ahead next year.

The Strabane-Lifford race will take place in 2024, with the Waterside event returning in 2025, after this year's event on Sunday, which is expected to involve about 2,000 runners.

The council has said the decision was made to save money when striking a rate for the district earlier this year.

"After concerns were raised that the new policy might be too short notice for aspiring runners who were training for the 2023 Strabane-Lifford Half Marathon, the necessary finance was identified to stage both events together for one last year," a council spokesperson has said.

However Noel McMonagle, one of the race's organisers, told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme that the half marathon in Derry is a "prime date" the road racing calendar for local runners.

Mr McMonagle said many people who run in the race on the first weekend in September are preparing for the Dublin Marathon in October.

Around 2,000 runners will aim to complete the 13.1 mile course on Sunday

"My fear is quite simple - that we will lose the date, once we lose the date, we have to search for another date as it puts us out of sync from where we were before," he said.

"It is out of sight and out of mind. If we are not there one year, people forget about us. Numbers start to drop and council drops us all together," he said.

In previous years, Mr McMonagle said, world champions and Olympians have competed on the streets of Derry.

That has helped the race garner a reputation as the "premier half marathon in Ireland".

• The half marathon balloon runners setting the pace

About 2,000 runners will aim to complete the 13.1 mile (21km) course on Sunday.

The 40th Waterside Half Marathon will start at Ebrington Square at 09:30 BST, with police in Derry advising motorists to expect traffic delays in the city during the race.

The route includes the city's two road bridges, Limavady Road, Strand Road, Queens Quay and Foyle Road.