The 2026 half marathon ran on 13 September. Here is the closure plan it used, street by street, and when each part of Northampton reopened.

This event has taken place. The Amazing Northampton Run was held on Sunday 13 September 2026. The closure plan below is kept as the record of which roads shut and when they reopened, and as a guide to what to expect when the run returns. The event is normally held on the second Sunday in September.

The half marathon started on Market Square at 9.30am. Closures moved with the runners, beginning before 9.30am at the Sixfields end and finishing at 12.30pm in the town centre. The town centre streets around the Guildhall and Derngate were shut until half past twelve, Abington Street for the whole event, and everything else reopened as the last runner passed.

What is happening

  • A 13.1 mile half marathon, starting on Market Square and finishing on Abington Street
  • A three-leg relay over the same course
  • A three-mile fun run, which uses the town centre and University Drive sections
  • The Mayor of Northampton, Cllr Mike Hallam, joins the pre-race warm-up at about 9.15am

The route goes past the Guildhall and 78 Derngate, out to Franklin’s Gardens, and through the Racecourse, Abington Park and Barnes Meadow. Northampton Town Council has funded 12 mobile toilets at the Racecourse, the halfway point. West Northamptonshire Council has paid half the cost of the temporary traffic regulation order that makes the closures legal. (West Northamptonshire Council, 10 September 2026)

Every road closure, in route order

These times come from the organiser’s published route closure plan. The plan is built around a fastest half marathon of 1 hour 12 minutes and a slowest of 3 hours, so the reopening times are the latest expected, not a fixed schedule. Several sections are on rolling release, which means they open as soon as the last runner has passed.

Road closures for The Amazing Northampton Run, Sunday 13 September 2026
RoadClosed fromRunners throughReopens by
Wood Hill9.00am9.30 to 9.45am10.00am
Bridge Street9.00am9.30 to 9.50am10.00am
London Road, St Leonard's to South Bridge9.30am9.33 to 9.40am9.45am
St Leonard's Road9.30am9.35 to 9.45am9.50am
Main Road9.30am9.36 to 9.50am9.55am
Ringway9.30am9.38 to 9.55am10.00am
Walter Tull Way9.00am9.48 to 10.18am10.30am
Weedon Road, service road9.30am9.50 to 10.33am, two passes10.30am
Ross Road9.30am9.51 to 10.25am10.30am
Spencer Bridge Road9.30am9.55 to 10.42am10.50am
Grafton Street9.30am9.58 to 10.46am10.50am
Barrack Road9.30am10.00 to 10.48am10.50am
Kettering Road10.00am10.08 to 11.07am11.10am
Abington Avenue10.00am10.09 to 11.13am11.20am
Roe Road10.00am10.11 to 11.15am11.20am
Adnitt Road10.00am10.12 to 11.15am11.20am
Wantage Road10.00am10.12 to 11.17am11.20am
Wellingborough Road10.00am10.13 to 11.19am11.20am
Park Avenue South10.00am10.16 to 11.31am11.35am
Rushmere Road10.00am10.18 to 11.38am11.40am
Nunn Mills Road9.45am10.30 to 11.59am12.00pm
Cattle Market Road9.30am10.36am to 12.17pm12.30pm
Victoria Gardens9.30am10.37am to 12.19pm12.30pm
St John's Street9.30am10.38am to 12.19pm12.30pm
Guildhall Road9.30am10.38am to 12.21pm12.30pm
Derngate9.30am10.39am to 12.25pm12.30pm
Spring Gardens9.30am10.40am to 12.26pm12.30pm
St Giles Terrace9.30am10.40am to 12.27pm12.30pm
Abington StreetWhole event10.41am to 12.30pmAfter the event
Timeline of Northampton road closures on Sunday 13 September, showing the west of town clearing by 10.50am, the Kettering Road and Abington side by 11.40am, and the town centre staying shut until 12.30pm
The closures roll through the morning. Weedon Road and Spencer Bridge Road clear first, the town centre last.
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The streets that stay shut all morning

A block of the town centre is listed as a whole-event closure rather than a rolling one:

  • Abington Street
  • Derngate
  • Spring Gardens
  • St Giles Street and St Giles Square by the Guildhall
  • Guildhall Road
  • The A5123 at the Morrisons car park entrance

Two arrangements sat alongside the closures. Sixfields car park was shut on the Saturday night and opened at 9.30am on the Sunday, and the recycling centre at Sixfields opened late because of the closure at the Walter Tull Way roundabout. (The Amazing Northampton Run, road closures)

What it means for you

The plan is a sequence of releases, not one long shutdown. That is worth knowing for next year: find your road in the table and work from the reopening time, which is the worst case rather than the expected one.

The route splits the town for most of the morning. The A4500 at Wellingborough Road was due back by 11.20am, Barrack Road by 10.50am and Ringway by 10.00am, so crossing north of the course was the quicker option. For closures happening now, see our roadworks and travel page.

The premium on-street parking zone sits inside the closure. Abington Street, George Row, Mercers Row and St Giles Street are all on it, so those bays are unusable until half twelve on run day. Our parking guide has the multi-storeys and their charges.

If you want to watch, the finish is on Abington Street. The Northampton Town Centre BID has funded the crowd barriers on the finishing straight. The organisers have asked people living on the route to come out and cheer.

If you still want to run, you have missed the deadline. Entries for all three events closed at 8am on Friday 11 September.

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