The showstopping BTR Liverpool Half Marathon returns next weekend, and organisers have released full details of road closures and travel information for runners, spectators, local residents, and visitors to aid movement across the city centre.
The race takes place on Sunday 15 March 2026. It is the biggest ever BTR Liverpool Half Marathon with 15,000 participants, including 500 runners taking on the BTR 10 Mile Road Race.
The event was first staged in 1994, and for the last two years the race has sold out at 12,000 places.
A new updated course for 2026, enabled organisers BTR Liverpool to release a further 3,000 places to take the race to the next level. The extra places sold out in one hour.
Alongside the increased event capacity, the start line moves to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the new home ground of Everton Football Club.
The race will now start at a slightly later time of 9.30am due to transport logistics, to support runners with extra time to get to the new start line. Both races start at the same time.
Spectators are advised that the Hill Dickinson Stadium concourse muster area is for runners only.
The finish line will remain at Pier Head Liverpool, set against the iconic backdrop of the Three Graces and under the gaze of the world-famous Liver Birds.
As well as the new start line, the first four miles of the route have also been revised to take in more of the city centre and landmarks including Liverpool Town Hall, the Chinese Arch, and Liverpool Cathedral.
The latter part of the course has also been changed. Runners will no longer head through Otterspool Park and onto The Promenade. Instead, they will make their way back from Sefton Park and Princes Park along Princes Road and Upper Parliament Street, before taking in Queens Wharf and Halftide Wharf, then joining the usual route at King’s Dock for the home straight along the waterfront to the finish line at Pier Head Liverpool.
While the new route will accommodate the expansion of the event, it will mean the waterfront, Strand, and Upper Parliament Street North-bound route will be closed a little longer than previous years until 1.30pm.
BTR Liverpool is working closely with partners Liverpool City Council, Arriva North West, Merseytravel, Merseyrail, emergency services, and multi-agency planning groups to ensure a smooth transition for runners, spectators, local residents, and visitors.
The event will require the closure of a number of roads and road junctions between 4am and 3pm on Sunday 15 March 2026, all of which will reopen on a rolling basis as the run passes through.
Road closures will begin at 4am around the start/finish (start – Hill Dickinson Stadium, finish – around the Royal Liver Building) on Sunday 15 March, with route closure being implemented from 8.30am.
An interactive road map is now live on the BTR website to assist those needing to move round the city centre on event day and to see specific areas closure times:
https://www.btrliverpool.com/events/liverpool-half-marathon-and-10-mile/#interactive-route-map
A full list of road closures and traffic restrictions is available at:
2026-liverpool-half-marathon-road-closure-poster.pdf
Arriva North West is operating shuttle buses from Liverpool ONE bus station to Great Howard Street and Blackstone Street. The service will start at 6.30am, with the last bus departing at 9am. The fare is £2 per person.
Merseyrail is operating a number of earlier train services into Liverpool Central, Moorfields, and Sandhills, on the Northern Line and Wirral Line networks.
For those coming into the city centre – the roads will be busier than normal until 2pm and are encouraged to consider using public transport, or if coming by car leaving the journey until a little later. Detailed information is available on the BTR website for those looking to plan their journeys.
Alan Rothwell, BTR Founder, commented:
“The BTR Liverpool Half Marathon returns for 2026 with lots of new things to inform people about – not just our eager runners and their keen supporters, but also local residents and visitors to the city centre.
“We are gearing up to welcome an inspiring 15,000 runners to run the half marathon or 10 miler. This is the biggest race the city has seen. An event of this scale, with this many participants and thousands of spectators, takes a huge amount of work and planning.
“We’re working closely with Liverpool City Council, emergency services, partner agencies, and public transport operators to ensure our runners and visitors have the best possible experience. To make the course safe we must close roads and have restricted access in places, but these will be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so. We thank you for your support.”
BTR Liverpool is the leading organisation for creating, managing, and delivering headline running events across Liverpool City Region. The annual calendar of competitive races and fun runs take place between March and December.
The portfolio also includes Liverpool Santa Dash, Mersey Tunnel 10K, Port Sunlight Road Race 10K and 5K, Women’s 10K and 5K Liverpool, Wirral 10K, and Run For The 97.
In 2025, BTR Liverpool and its successful portfolio of events was acquired by Run For All. Mass participation events company Run For All is wholly owned by the Jane Tomlinson Appeal, and continues to honour her ongoing legacy.
Full details about BTR Liverpool events visit www.btrliverpool.com
