Brighton Marathon 2027

Sunday, 4 April 2027 · Brighton, United Kingdom

The weekend at a glance

Start

Preston Park. The 2027 time will be confirmed about five weeks before. In 2025 the waves ran from 9:45 to 10:37

Finish

Hove Lawns, on Kingsway

Time limit

7 hours

Climb

477 feet, about 145 m, with four main climbs by mile 11

Your number

Posted to UK runners. International runners collect on the Friday or Saturday

Bag drop

Free, at the start, in the official kitbag

Weather

The last five race mornings ran from 8.0 °C to 12.4 °C at 10:00, with winds up to 34 km/h

On this page

1. Getting to Brighton
2. Where to stay in Brighton
3. Collecting your number
4. Race morning
5. The course
6. Weather in Brighton in April
7. Afterwards
8. Other race weekends
9. Sources

Getting to Brighton 2026 details

From Gatwick, trains to Brighton take about 30 minutes, according to Thameslink, which runs them alongside Southern and the Gatwick Express. Brighton station is the one you want, because in 2025 Preston Park and London Road stations were closed until 11:00 on race morning. The route to the park was signed from Brighton station.

Park and Ride was fully booked for 2026. Four sites were open from 7:00, with buses to the start from 7:45 to 9:30 and buses back from the finish from 13:30 to 18:30, and the ride took about 25 to 30 minutes. Nothing is published yet for 2027.

If you're being dropped off, roads around Preston Park close from 6:30 and the advice is to be dropped at least half a mile away. Your family can travel with you to the start, but only runners can enter the secure area.

Where to stay in Brighton

From the city centre, the advice is to walk to Preston Park, which is north of the centre. The finish is in Hove, and road closures make a lift awkward.

Your arrival time decides everything. In 2025 the first wave was asked to be at the park at 8:30 and the last at 9:45, so a hotel within walking distance means a late breakfast for the later waves.

Collecting your number 2026 details

In 2026 event packs were posted to UK addresses, so UK runners didn't collect them. The pack was due by the Tuesday before the race, with a form to fill in if it hadn't arrived by 17:00 that day.

International runners collect in person. In 2026 you could do that on the Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 at the DoubleTree Hilton on Kings Road, or on the Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Information Point in Preston Park. The 2027 times and places aren't published. Bring the QR code from your start email. Someone else can collect for you with a copy of your ID, your written consent and their own ID, and nothing is handed out on race day.

Race morning

You get a wave, an arrival time and a start time by email, and the participant guide is delivered through an online account. You can't move to an earlier wave, but you can join a later one without telling anyone.

In 2025 there were eight waves, and the arrival times ran from 8:30 for waves 1 and 2 to 9:45 for wave 8. The waves went off at about seven-minute gaps from 9:45 to 10:37. These are 2025 times, so look at your own email.

Drop your kitbag at the baggage area that matches the letter on your bib, in the lane for your bib number. Only the official bag is accepted, with no suitcases or loose coats. It's waiting for you at the finish. Your bib also asks for your medical details on the back.

The cut-off is seven hours. You can run, jog or walk, but you have to hold seven-hour pace, and if you can't, you'll be asked to move onto the pavement and a team will walk with you to the finish.

The course

The route starts flat in Preston Park, climbs Preston Park Avenue for 20 m over 700 m, then runs north along London Road and back towards the city, past the Theatre Royal and the Royal Pavilion and round The Level. St James's Street adds a 12 m climb. From Lower Rock Gardens the course joins Marine Parade, a flat, elevated stretch, and rises onto Marine Drive towards the cliffs, with a steady 14 m climb into the turn at Ovingdean and a view back along the cliffs to the city. The return leg runs above Brighton Marina and drops onto Marine Drive.

From mile 15 the course follows Madeira Drive beside Volk's Electric Railway, with Brighton Pier and the i360 in view. It then goes through Hove along Grand Avenue and Church Road, onto Kingsway and Hove Promenade, past the beach huts at mile 25, and finishes on Hove Lawns. The surface is tarmac with 200 m of block paving at mile 4.5. The total climb is 477 feet, about 145 m, and the terrain is described as rolling.

Water in cups is at miles 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.5, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. HIGH5 Zero is at miles 7, 15, 21 and 23 and gel at 15 and 21. For a bottle belt, the water refill points are at miles 4, 7.5, 12, 16.5 and 20.

Weather in Brighton in April

Much of the course runs along the seafront and cliffs, so the wind column matters here. These are the last five race days at Preston Park, at 10:00, when the first waves were out, and at 13:00. The wind was 20 km/h or more in three of them.

These readings are for the start park, not the seafront.

Afterwards

There's a free Beach Village at the finish where you can meet family, with numbered flags at the exits, and the baggage area is where you collect your kit. The finish also has a quiet space, a parent and child space and a prayer space.

Other race weekends

Close by, and with guides of their own, are TCS London Marathon and Manchester Marathon.

The next races with a guide

Paris Marathon4 April 2027 · Paris, France Manchester Marathon18 April 2027 · Manchester, United Kingdom Vienna City Marathon18 April 2027 · Vienna, Austria

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 1 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.