A record 17,876 people finished the Big Half today (Sunday 6 September), beating last year’s record numbers by more than 650, in a unique celebration of running and community. Now in its ninth year, the Big Half has become the UK’s most diverse and vibrant mass participation event and is a showcase of the varied people and communities that make up London.
Nearly 500 community groups from across London were among those taking part in the Big Half and the New Balance Big Relay – a team event where four participants each complete a 5K leg across the half-marathon distance. The community group entries enable a wider diversity of people to take part in the Big Half through discounted entry fees.
Today’s event started close to Tower Bridge and finished outside the famous Cutty Sark, in Greenwich. Along the route, community groups, music bands and DJs created cheer zones to create a unique and vibrant atmosphere for participants.
The Big Mile, for families and children of all ages, also saw a record 1,768 finish the event, which is held over the final one-mile stretch of the Big Half course.
Sanaa Qureshi, Head of Community Engagement and Event Lead for the Big Half, said: “It’s been a brilliant day. The ambition behind the Big Half has always been to celebrate the vibrant diversity of London and create an event where everyone feels welcome. I’m proud to say that 37% of this year’s participants are from ethnically diverse communities, a 10-percentage point increase from last year.
“We put community at the heart of the Big Half and with more than 7,000 participants from London’s inspiring community groups taking part, the event has been a showcase of the wonderful people, cultures and communities that make this city so unique.”
REP RUNNERS DELIGHT IN SEEING THOUSANDS OF FINISHERS WITH MEDAL AND T-SHIRTS THEY HELPED TO DESIGN
This year’s finisher T-shirt and medal have been designed by REP Runners, a running community in London that brings together people from all ages and walks of life through a shared love of running. Now one of London’s most recognisable run crews, more than150 REP Runners took to the streets of London today to take part in the Big Half.
Saheed Mustapha, co-founder of REP Runners, was the event's Official Starter and waved off the elite athletes and mass participants as they began their 13.1-mile challenge.
Mustapha said: “To know that 20,000 people are going home with a REP-designed medal and T-shirt gives me such a sense of pride that I never thought I’d experience.
“Running has quite literally changed my life, and I have always wanted to share that positive high that a run can give you. When designing the Big Half finisher's medal and T-shirt, we wanted to celebrate the achievement of finishing, regardless of finish time. We want every Big Half finisher to have a reminder that they accomplished something amazing and should be super proud.”
BRINGING BLOOD DONATION TO THE FOREFRONT
New at the Big Half this year was the ‘What’s Your Blood Type?’ activation in the Event Village, brought to the Big Half through a partnership between NHS Blood & Transplant and Bloodlines, a social-first brand and content platform designed to make blood donation feel culturally relevant to young Black people in the UK.
Bloodlines also had a team of seven runners take on the Big Half through community entries, all sharing their personal story about how blood donation has had a positive impact on their lives.
Jelissa Lutula, who was part of the Bloodlines team, said: “We want more people to sign up to donate blood. The reason I chose to run with Bloodlines at the Big Half is because I have the sickle cell trait [a genetic blood condition] and I want to bring awareness to those who do have the trait to understand that they can donate blood. I can’t wait to celebrate with all the other Bloodlines runners.”
ELITE RACES
Earlier in the day, Kadar Omar Abdullahi took a surprise win in the elite men’s field, placing ahead of three-time winner Jack Rowe, who had to settle for second place.
Abdullahi, who became a British citizen earlier this summer, came to the UK as a refugee aged 13 from Ethiopia.
Abdullahi said: “This is my fastest time in four years. When I was on that Start Line, I just reminded myself of how grateful I am this year. I didn’t have any niggles.
“My own story is what has inspired me to be here. Running is what saved me and got me integrated into society. I am a British citizen now and that makes me very proud. I have lived in this country for ten years and without running I wouldn’t be who I am today.
“It is a great achievement; I always had the dream of getting myself in this type of field and testing myself.”
In the elite wheelchair races, David Weir smashed his own course record for the second consecutive year to win the race for the fifth time, while Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the elite women’s wheelchair race for the third time, in 52:47, coming close to the course record set by Sammie Kinghorn in 2023 (52:05).
Weir said: “Today I wanted to go out hard, it was good conditions, and I wanted that course record. You never know, I might not be racing next year – that's in my head, every race I treat as maybe could be my last one. I am not saying it is, but that is the way I train and race. I am just taking every opportunity I can now, doing all the races that I can.”
Rainbow-Cooper said: “I really want to get the [Big Half] course record at some point and today is the closest I’ve been. It is always fun to get a course PB – it gets closer and closer each year so I’ve just got to keep on going until I can hopefully get it"
Eilish McColgan pulled clear of Jess Warner-Judd and Emma Pallant to claim the title in the elite women’s race, marking her return from a toe injury sustained at the TCS London Marathon earlier this year.
Following her win, Eilish said: “I came into this race in a different place from previous years [following a broken toe]. Coming back into training for the last four weeks so fitness was always going to be my biggest concern, but I had the fear over the broken toe as well.
"I haven't even run 13 miles in training! I have mentally ticked that box and can push on from here, which is great. I eased into it because of nerves and could really attack in the second half.”
Read more on the elite races. Post-race quotes from the winners and podium finishers in the elite races at the 2026 Big Half are also available on the event website.
A NEW PLOGGING INITIATIVE
At the back of the pack, a team of 30 dedicated ‘Ploggers’ took on the Big Half, collecting discarded cups, gel wrappers and other litter along the route to help keep the course clean. Representing a range of running clubs and sustainability-focused organisations, including Green Runners and Vegan Runners, the volunteers demonstrated how sport and environmental action can go hand in hand.
Jill Bennett, who was part of the volunteer Plogging group, said: “I am part of Green Runners and they were involved in the Plogging at the Brighton Marathon earlier in the year, which was brilliant, so I wanted to volunteer and get involved again [at the Big Half], helping keep the streets of London clean. Today was really good fun and we mainly picked up discarded gel wrappers.”