Ards Half Marathon
Newtownards, Down
26 Jun 2026
⚠ Start times change frequently. Always check with race organiser or their website for this year's confirmed start time before travelling.
Course map
Map based on 2025 route
⚠ This map is for indicative purposes only — routes can change, or be reversed, year to year. Check with the race organiser for this year's confirmed map.
Elevation profile
About this race
The Ards Half Marathon is an established fixture on the Northern Ireland road racing calendar, first held in 2008 and organised by Scrabo Striders. The race starts and finishes at the Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex in Newtownards, sending runners through the towns and countryside of the Ards Peninsula on a route certified by Athletics Northern Ireland. The course is undulating to hilly on roads and footpaths, looping through Newtownards and the surrounding countryside before returning to the finish. The event has a reputation as one of the tougher half marathons in the province. It is held under an Athletics Northern Ireland permit, is chip timed, and all finishers receive a bespoke medal and t-shirt. Typically held on the last Friday of June at 6:30pm.
Course profile & record eligibility
World Athletics record-eligibility rules cap net elevation loss at 1m per km of race distance, and require the start and finish to be no more than 50% of the race distance apart — both meant to stop a course gaining an unfair edge from downhill grade or a point-to-point tailwind. This is based on this course's recorded elevation and GPS data, not an official measurement or certification.