The Andover Half starts at 8am on Sunday 25 October and the 12km at 9am, both on the High Street. Entry closes 17 October, and town parking is free on Sundays.

The Andover Half Marathon and 12km returns on Sunday 25 October 2026. The Half starts at 8am on the High Street, the 12km at 9am, and both finish where they started, in the middle of town.

Two things about that morning are worth knowing before you book anything. The first is that the clocks go back the same night, because 25 October is the last Sunday in October, so an 8am start is 8am on the new time and you get the extra hour. The second is that this is an open road race. The organiser, Seasons Run Club, states plainly on its own event page that the course is open road with one road closure, on Bridge Street. If you are driving through Andover that morning, that is the only full closure you should expect.

Everything below was checked on 5 September 2026 against the organiser’s own race pages at seasonsrunclub.co.uk and its Eventrac event hub.

Andover Half and 12km: race morning, Sunday 25 October 2026 Times from the organiser's own race day timetable. Clocks go back overnight, so these are the new times 06:30 Registration opens for the Half. Volunteers on site 07:45 Half Marathon briefing. All marshals in place 08:00 HALF MARATHON START, High Street 08:05 Registration opens for the 12km 08:45 12km briefing 09:00 12KM START, High Street Half Marathon 21.1km, 229m climb, 84% paved, 3hr 30 cut-off 12km 12.77km, about 100m climb, 2hr 30 cut-off Source: Seasons Run Club and its Eventrac event hub, checked 5 September 2026. Andover News
Race morning in full, from the organiser's published timetable

The two races

The Half is 13.1 miles, or 21.1km. Seasons Run Club describes the course as mixed terrain but about 84 per cent paved, with 751 feet (229 metres) of climbing and views of three Iron Age hill forts on the way round. There is a generous three and a half hour cut-off, chip timing, and a bespoke medal for every finisher.

The second distance is a 12km, and the organiser is honest that it is not exactly 12km: its own note reads “The official 12km route is a touch long at approximately 12.77 km”, mostly paved with around 10 per cent firm dirt and about 100 metres of climbing. The cut-off is two and a half hours.

Both start and finish on the High Street, with the race village in the town centre. The registered start address is 14 High Street, Andover SP10 1LJ.

Prices, entry and the deadline

Entry is through the organiser’s Eventrac page. Seasons Run Club does not print a headline price on its own website; the running listings site Findarace gives the current entries as £47.05 for the Half and £26.14 for the 12km. Check the figure on the entry page itself before you pay, because these fees usually rise as race day gets closer.

Registration closes on 17 October, according to the event’s listing on Test Valley Borough Council’s Andover town centre site. Entry fees are non-refundable unless you bought the optional third party insurance at checkout.

Age limits are firm and are set on race day, not on the day you enter: 16 and over for the Half, 13 and over for the 12km.

All donations collected through entries go to the race’s headline charity, Maggie’s.

Aid, prizes and what is not on offer

  • Aid stations on the Half at 4.7 miles and 9 miles, with an extra one added on hot days. There is a first aid tent at the race village and support vehicles on the course.
  • The 12km has no aid station at all. Carry your own drink.
  • £100 in cash for the first male and the first female finisher, plus podium places and age category prizes from M40 and F35 upwards.
  • No placing and no prize for the 12km. It is a run, not a race, as far as the results board is concerned.
  • Bone conduction headphones only. Ordinary earbuds are not allowed, which is normal for an open road race.

Parking, and the one closure

Andover town centre car parks are free on Sundays, which is the single most useful thing to know if you are supporting rather than running. The organiser suggests four:

  • George Yard, SP10 1EP, which has toilets
  • Chantry Centre, SP10 1BL
  • Black Swan Yard, SP10 1EZ
  • Town Mills, SP10 1BL

Our Andover parking page has the full tariff and opening hours for each of these if you are staying into the afternoon, and the Andover roadworks and travel page tracks the resurfacing and closures running across the town this autumn, several of which sit on roads people use to reach the High Street.

The course itself runs south out of town through the villages below Andover. If you live on that side and are not involved, expect marshals on junctions from around 7.45am and runners on the lanes until roughly 11.30am.

One trap in the booking system

If you click through to the Eventrac bulk booking page, the terms and conditions it serves are last year’s. They open “By registering for and participating in the Andover Half Marathon and 10km 2025” and give the date as 26 October 2025. The distance changed: the second race is a 12km in 2026, not a 10km, and the current terms on the organiser’s own website carry the right date and the right distance. Read those instead.

What is still to come

The route maps, the volunteer arrangements and the results are all published on the organiser’s own pages, and last year’s timings are already up. What has not been published is any road closure order beyond the Bridge Street closure the organiser names. If Hampshire County Council advertises anything wider for race morning, we will add it here.

Everything on this page was verified against the organiser’s own published material on 5 September 2026. Times and fees can change, so check the entry page before you travel.

Sources