The ATW Bedford Half Marathon and 10k runs on Sunday 1 November 2026 from Russell Park. Entries are open at £41 and £33, the course is traffic-free, and there is no event parking.

The ATW Bedford 10k and Half Marathon is on Sunday 1 November 2026, starting and finishing at Russell Park, Bedford MK40 3RH. Entries are open, both distances are priced, and Bedford Borough Council has the event on its own park events calendar for that date, which is as confirmed as a race gets six weeks out.

Both races start at 9am, with a free family fun run at 8.30am.

The two Bedford half marathons, and how to book the right one

This is the thing worth getting right before you pay. Active Training World runs two separate Bedford half marathon and 10k events a year, at the same place, on different event pages.

Race Date Status
ATW Bedford 10k and Half Marathon Sunday 1 November 2026 Entries open
ATW Bedford Half Marathon and 10k Sunday 21 February 2027 The organiser says the 2026 running “sold out”

The council’s calendar shows the same pattern from the other side: a “Bedford Half and 10km” on the Embankment and at Priory Country Park on 22 February 2026, and the “Bedford 10k and Half Marathon” on 1 November 2026.

They have nearly identical names and nearly identical descriptions. Check the date on the page before you check out.

Entry prices

These are the organiser’s own listed prices, in force since 28 February 2026, before any booking or processing charge added at the checkout.

Distance Standard Affiliated club runner
10k £33.00 £31.00
Half marathon £41.00 £39.00

Age limits are set on race day: 16 and over for the 10k, 17 and over for the half marathon. No capacity cap is published for either distance, and entries were still open on 4 September.

The family fun run is free, open to all ages, and children under 8 must be with an adult. It is not chip timed and there are no results, but every child gets a medal.

The course, and why people pick it

One lap for the 10k, two for the half. The route starts and finishes on the Embankment, heads out towards the Town Bridge, crosses it, follows the Great Ouse towards Priory Park, laps Priory Lake and comes back to the Embankment. Half marathon runners go straight back out for a second lap with a short extension to make the full 21.1km.

The number that sells this race is the elevation: under 50 metres across the 10k and under 100 metres across the half, which the organiser claims makes it “one of the flattest courses in the country”. There are kilometre markers for the 10k and mile markers for the half.

The whole route is on traffic-free tarmac or firm paths. That is the practical answer to the question people ask about every town-centre race: there are no road closures to plan around, because the course does not use the roads.

Parking, which the organiser does not provide

Stated plainly on the event page: “we are unable to provide specific event parking”. Runners are pointed at the council’s own car parks and told to leave time to walk.

Russell Park sits between the Embankment and Goldington Road, so the nearest options are the town centre car parks. Two of them are worth knowing about for a Sunday morning: most Bedford council car parks are free on a Sunday, but Prebend Street and Ashburnham Road both charge, and the free-on-Sunday rule is not applied uniformly across the borough. Tariffs are set per car park rather than borough-wide, and ours are listed one by one on the Bedford parking guide.

If anything is dug up on the approach roads that weekend it will show on our Bedford roadworks and travel page.

Transfers if you cannot run

ATW does not give refunds and does not let you transfer your place to another person. What it does allow is a transfer of your own entry to any future ATW event, up to 48 hours before race day, for any reason, with no proof required. That is unusually generous for a mass-participation race and it is worth knowing before you enter.

The event’s partner charity is Alzheimer’s Research UK, with fundraising options offered at the checkout.

The rest of Bedford’s running calendar

From Bedford Borough Council’s own park events calendar, which lists everything booked onto council parkland:

  • 13 December 2026: Keech Santa Run, the Embankment and Mill Meadows.
  • Bedford Running Festival, Russell Park, the Embankment and Priory Country Park, which ran 4 to 6 September this year.

More on what is on across the borough is on our things to do in Bedford page.

Checked on 4 September 2026 against atwevents.co.uk and Bedford Borough Council’s park events calendar. Prices are as listed by the organiser on that date and can change before race day.