Southend Half Marathon organisers announce road closures and recycling initiative

June 2, 2019 by Leigh-on-sea.com

On Sunday 9^th June, Southend will host a Half Marathon in aid of a countywide hospice charity which will mean there will be road closures for a short period of time on that day.

Havens Hospices is bringing the Southend Half Marathon back to the town for its 24th year to help it raise vital funds for its services in the community and at their two hospices.    

The road closures are as follows:

• George Street (in its entirety) – 07:30am to 2:00pm
• Rampart Terrace (in its entirety) – 07:30am to 2:00pm
• Rampart Street (in its entirety) – 07:30am to 2:00pm
• High Street Shoebury (in its entirety) – 09:15am to 10:00am
• Smith Street / Campfield Road (High Street to Ness Road) – 09:15am to 10:15am
• All roads within the Garrison (except New Barge Pier Road) i.e. New Garrison Road, St George’s Lane, The Terraces, Warrior Square Road and Magazine Road (in its entirety) – 09:15am to 10.30am
• Ness Road / Shoebury Common Road and Thorpe Esplanade / Eastern Esplanade (from south of Linton Road to Beach Road) – 09:15am to 12:30pm
• Maplin Way (from Thorpe Esplanade to Church Road) – 09:15am to 12:30pm
• Church Road – 09:15am to 12:30pm
• New Barge Pier Road (south of Magazine Road) – 09:15am to 12:30pm 

There will also be a temporary suspension of parking on both sides of Peel Avenue from its junction with Blackgate Road northwards for 50m from 7:00am to 2:00pm. There will be no parking charges for runners onsite at Shoeburyness East Beach. 

This year the charity - which includes Fair Havens Hospice, Little Havens Hospice and The J’s Hospice - is introducing a range of initiatives to make the race greener in line with its long-term commitment to the environment. 

All bottles, plastic and paper cups at the water stations will be recycled. It has also changed the way it operates the water stations and has reduced the number of water stations to cut down on waste. However, runners will still pass a water station 10 times along the route.

The charity is asking runners and spectators to be vigilant when getting rid of rubbish in the Runners Village and to use the correct bins provided at the start/finish area.  It is very important that food waste or non-recyclable items are not put in the recycling bins as this will contaminate the waste and prevent the council from being able to recycle it. 

This year the charity will not be giving out goody bags at the finish. However, participants can still collect a bottle of water, which have all been donated and are fully recyclable, banana and cereal bar at the end of the finish funnel.

The charity will be handing out unique trophies this year, which have been very kindly donated by one of their Day Hospice volunteers and have been made from recycled bank teller desks. 

Finally, the charity is encouraging those taking part to help the environment by carpooling with fellow runners or getting public transport to the event. The C2C Shoeburyness station is just a couple of minutes’ walks from the start/finish line.

Jane Hopkins, Events Fundraiser at Havens Hospices, said “We are really looking forward to cheering on all the runners at the 24^th Southend Half Marathon. On behalf of Havens Hospices, I would like to thank everyone who supports this event: the runners, all their friends and family who come and cheer and, of course, the fantastic residents and business owners along the route who allow us to run through their streets. All of you are ‘Making every day count’ for adults, babies, children and young people across Essex.

“This year we have made some changes to the way we run this event as part of phase one of our commitment to helping the environment. While we’ll have a dedicated team of Recycling Volunteers working hard throughout the day to help reduce our impact on the planet, we are also asking our runners and spectators to help us make this event as green as possible by using the right bins when throwing away any rubbish and to use public transport or carshare to get to the event.”

The Southend Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 9^th June, starting and finishing at Shoeburyness East Beach. Runners and wheelchair athletes interested in taking part can still sign up until Friday 31^st May online at www.havenshospices.org.uk/southendhalf or contact the Havens Hospices’ Events team on 01702 220324. Registration to sign up on the day will be open from 8am for an additional £5 charge.