Beachy Head Marathon 2026: 24 Oct, starts 8.45am

The 2026 Beachy Head Marathon is on Saturday 24 October, starting at 8.45am from Dukes Drive at the Eastbourne end of the South Downs Way. The ultra and the 10K run the same morning, and the half marathon is on Sunday 25 October. It is the event’s 46th year, and it is run by Eastbourne Borough Council’s Visit Eastbourne team.

The quick answer

• Saturday 24 October: Ultra 7.40am, Marathon 8.45am, 10K 9.15am. Sunday 25 October: Half Marathon 8am.
• Start and finish: Dukes Drive, Meads (BN20 7RP), by Bede’s prep school. There is no official car park.
• Dukes Drive and Upper Dukes Drive close for the weekend; in 2024 the closures ran from 5.30am to 7pm on the Saturday.

The four races

Source: the Beachy Head Marathon site and its marathon, half and 10K pages. The organisers describe the marathon as “one of the UKs largest off-road marathons”, formerly the Seven Sisters Marathon, with over 300 steps and 14 gates on the course. The half is in its sixth year; the 10K was added in 2013.

Entries were open when we checked on 25 September, through the organisers’ Eventrac entry page. The “final details” page says full race information for 2026 “will be published just before the 2026 event”.

Where to watch

The organisers’ where to watch page calls the course “almost entirely spectator-friendly” and suggests:

• The start and finish on Dukes Drive. Finishers usually arrive about 35 minutes after the start for the 10K, 1 hour 20 minutes for the half, 2 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours for the marathon, and 4 hours for the ultra.
• Beachy Head, with parking, toilets, a takeaway café and a pub.
• The Seven Sisters Visitor Centre at Exceat, with parking, toilets, a café and a pub nearby.
• The Coaster bus route, which the organisers say passes many viewing spots.

They also ask people to avoid Litlington and Alfriston because of the traffic and the lack of parking, and to bring warm clothes and waterproofs.

Getting to the start

From the travel page:

• There is no official car park. Free on-street parking near the start is first come, first served; pay and display applies along parts of the seafront.
• By bus: the 3 or 3A from outside the London and County pub, opposite the station, to the start of the South Downs Way in Meads, about two minutes from registration. The organisers say these run every 15 to 20 minutes.
• By train: Southern from London Victoria, Gatwick or Haywards Heath. The start is about a 30-minute walk from Eastbourne station, at the western end of the seafront.

If you are coming by train, check our rail disruption page: Southern’s off-peak cuts to London were due to run until at least mid-October.

Road closures

The organisers say closures are kept to a minimum but “some road closures cannot be avoided”, and that access to businesses is maintained on Dukes Drive. The order they link is the 2024 one, the Eastbourne Borough Council (Temporary Street Closure) (No. 21) Order 2024. It closed these roads from 5.30am to 7pm on the Saturday and 5.30am to 2.30pm on the Sunday:

• King Edward’s Parade, from Dukes Drive to Chesterfield Road
• Dukes Drive, from Cliff Road to Wellcombe Crescent
• Upper Dukes Drive, part closure from Beachy Head Road to Wellcombe Crescent, with residents’ access and traffic kept in the opposite direction
• Holywell Road, from Cliff Road to Dukes Drive, with residents’ access

The 2026 order has not been published. Expect a similar set of roads, and check our Eastbourne roadworks and travel page in the week before.

Still to be confirmed

• The 2026 road closure order and its times.
• Final race details, which the organisers publish just before the weekend.

The marathon weekend falls at the start of the county’s October half term; see what’s on in Eastbourne over half term for the rest of the week.