2024 Principality Cardiff Half Marathon set to celebrate a race for everyone
The Principality Building Society Cardiff Half Marathon will be back in the Welsh capital on Sunday 6 October – and this will be its biggest yet.
More than 29,000 people have signed up to take part across the half marathon and junior races on the Saturday in what will be the 21st edition of the event – with a record-breaking number of participants joining from overseas.
The event showcases the very best the city has to offer, taking in iconic landmarks including Cardiff Castle, the Principality Stadium and Cardiff Bay.
However, it’s not just its rich history and stunning architecture that makes Cardiff great – it’s also the diversity of its people. That’s why the theme for this year’s event is ‘A Race For Everyone’.
Matt Newman, Chief Executive at Run 4 Wales, event organisers of the Cardiff Half, said: “It’s really important for us to ensure we’re celebrating everything that makes Cardiff such a unique and welcoming city, and that’s largely down to the people that live here.
“That’s why this year’s event is taking strides to ensure it represents the Wales of today – and we’ve been working hard to encourage people of all ages, backgrounds and running abilities to get involved.
“This is our biggest year ever with over 29,000 people registered to take part across the weekend ranging from children taking part in their first event, elite and club athletes looking for a fast time, to those completing their first half marathon while raising money for charity, or as part of our 100 Club – an initiative we launched to help diversify the sport and break down barriers in mass-participation events.”
Among the runners taking part this year is Zoe Barber, a breast surgeon from Cowbridge. She will be dressing up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, in a costume made by her colleague and Great British Sewing Bee winner, Asmaa Al-Allak, in her attempt to break a Guinness World Record to be the fastest female to run a half marathon dressed as a cartoon character.
The current record stands at 1:53:26.
She said: “I used to be a really keen runner before I had my twin girls and ran the Cardiff Half in 2017. Last year I felt really inspired to enter again. I knew I wasn’t going to run as quickly as I had before, so started looking at other ways to motivate myself. That’s when I came across the record and thought, ‘I could do that’.
“I was talking to the children about it, who are obsessed with princesses and dressing up, and said to them, ‘Mummy’s going to be running a race, should I be a princess?’ But I was shocked when they told me, ‘No mummy, princesses don’t run’. I knew that I had to do it for them – to show them that you can be a princess and you can run, and that princesses can do anything.”
71-year-old Phil Powell from Ross-on-Wye will also be taking on the course, running as part of this year’s 100 Club.
Phil was diagnosed with MALT lymphoma of the left lung five years ago. After having a third of his left lung removed, his surgeon told him that he’d never run again. Despite also having two inoperable tumours in his right lung, Phil hasn’t let this stop him and he’s since completed 14 half marathons and 10K races, with his next challenge set to be the Cardiff Half.
The inspiring father-of-two and grandfather-of-three said: “Running really helps me to cope and I’m going to continue for as long as I can. My message to others is don’t give in. Try and achieve your full potential and don’t let any illness or cancer get the better of you. Staying fit can really help you face whatever it is you have going on.”
Among those in fancy dress and running club vests will also be hundreds of runners in their charity t-shirts fundraising for causes close to their hearts, including large teams from the NSPCC, Alzheimer’s Society, Mind, Cancer Research Wales, Tŷ Hafan and Hope House.
Georgia Edwards, a mum-of-two from Penarth, will be running her first half marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
A pacemaker device saved her husband Rhys’ life after he became ill two weeks after their wedding while on a business trip in New York.
Georgia said: “It was an incredibly scary time. The percentage of people going through what he did is very slim. We just want people to understand that if they feel something is wrong, they should see their doctor straight away.
“The British Heart Foundation’s helpline has been invaluable to us, and I wanted to do something to give back to all their support and research. That’s why I entered the Cardiff Half. I’ve never run – I couldn’t even run 1K in March, but I’ve been training well and having this goal will help me through.”
This year’s race sees the highest number of internationals taking part, with runners from overseas making up 10% of the field – up from 5% in 2023. The majority of international entrants are travelling from Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, France and the Netherland with runners coming from as far as the USA, New Zealand, Mexico and nearly 100 from Brazil.
They will all be joined by elite runners looking to battle it out for a podium spot. This year’s field includes athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Great Britain and Poland among others.
