Story added: 15th January 2020

The start gantry, formerly positioned on Gentleman’s Walk, has a new home for this year's edition of the race

Race organisers have made the decision to move the Run Norwich start line to a new location on Theatre Street for this year’s race (19.07.20).

The start gantry, formerly positioned on Gentleman’s Walk, will be erected outside the Theatre Royal building. The distance lost with the move will be made up with a section of new course that takes in Surrey Street, All Saints Green and Westlegate.

This will take runners past Aviva’s historic Surrey House building, the bus station and department store John Lewis, before rejoining the existing route at Red Lion Street.

Making the city centre more accessible

Run Norwich Course Director Adey Ewing explains the rationale behind the changes:

“Our current start, which has been in place since 2016, has increasingly caused us operational headaches as the race has grown in size and stature.

“The layout of the start by the market and the Gentleman’s Walk section of the route means a large number of businesses and traders are inconvenienced on race day morning. While they’ve all been incredibly accommodating and understanding these past years, we felt it was the right time to remove the restrictions we impose upon them and potential customers on raceday.

“Furthermore, newly installed recycling bins and street furniture on the Walk are a hazard to our runners. In 2019, we had to contract workmen to physically remove (and then promptly reinstall) the bins to allow an unobstructed start, at great cost and effort.”

The move also ensures an easier flow of pedestrian traffic around the area, with spectators being able to cross Rampant Horse Street for 30 minutes after the race start.

Solving the lead runner problem

The existing layout of the route means there is a time pressure between the last runner leaving the start area, and the lead runner returning for the finish approach.

“As the race has grown in size, the window afforded to us between the last runner departing and the lead runner returning has shrunk.  Last year, our team had just 10 minutes to reconfigure the barriers for the finish, which has obvious safety implications.

“With the new position of the start line, this tight time pressure is eased. A positive consequence of this is that it allows us to increase the gaps between the starting waves.  This will, in turn, reduce congestion along the route, and allow for a more pleasant experience for all our runners.”

Eliminating the sole repeated section of course

The change means that, now, no single part of the Run Norwich course is used twice.

“Those that have run the race before may be relieved to know they’ll no longer have to make the climb up Rampant Horse Street twice, meaning everyone should get off to a faster start!”

Increasing capacity

Finally, the changes will mean that an extra 1,000 runners will be able to enter the race this year.

“Last year we sold all 7,500 general entry places in just four days. The existing start prohibited us from increasing capacity further, and we were keen to allow as many people as possible to experience the race.

“As you may be aware, the race is run by a charity – the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation – whose work benefits over 38,000 people in the local community each year.

“The route change, though relatively minor, allows us to increase the capacity while eliminating the need to pay for street furniture to be temporarily removed on race day, meaning that more money than ever can go to good causes in 2020.”

Run Norwich has raised over half a million pounds for the Foundation, and other selected local charities and causes, since the race began.

A new legacy project from the race – Run For Me, which supports people with their mental health – was launched in 2019, with further community projects to be unveiled this year.