Runners will take to the streets of Cardiff this weekend as the Cardiff Half Marathon returns to its usual October spot, just six months after the last event in March. The 2022 Cardiff Half Marathon sold out earlier this summer, three and a half months after entries first went on sale.
The Cardiff Half Marathon kicks off at 10am and the sold-out event will see 25,000 runners race across the city- which includes a record number of runners from outside Wales, both from overseas and across the UK. They will start outside Cardiff Castle before following a 13-mile route, showcasing the city's famous landmarks. Road closures will be in place across the city on race day.
The event is Wales’ largest multi-charity fundraising event, with more than £3 million raised for good causes each year. The race is on track to generate its £20 millionth in fundraising this year, with ‘the race to £20 million’ campaign urging the public to get behind the push to reach this huge milestone.
READ MORE: Cardiff Half Marathon returns to its usual October spot this weekend
We spoke to this year's Cardiff Half Marathon runners ahead of the race
Anthony Spencer, 34, is a veteran from Pont-Henri in Carmarthenshire and is putting his best foot forward to support wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans. Anthony suffers from PTSD after serving two tours of Afghanistan, and while he laughs at his “abysmal” training ahead of the event, he says he will pound the streets of Cardiff in order to raise money for True Heroes Racing – the UK’s only motorcycle race team dedicated to supporting UK Service personnel and veterans who are wounded, injured and sick.
He said: “As a military veteran myself who still suffers from PTSD, I understand the difficulty that faces those who leave the military with mental, physical or social difficulties. True Heroes Racing is a family open to anyone with military ties and I’m hoping to raise much-needed funds to continue my support for this great cause.”
Anthony joined the military as a Royal Engineer when he turned 16, and during his career he was a part of a frontline patrol unit working with the Afghanistan National Army. After experiencing catastrophic events, he started seeing the effects years later as he started drinking more and becoming more distant and reserved.
He said: “Even now, it affects me. It impacts my sleep – I only get a few hours here and there a night. And it affects my anxiety levels which makes tasks such as travelling incredibly stressful. Loud noises and day-to-day stresses can seem unbearable.”
He was discharged in 2016 and since then he has thrown himself into work. He is now chief technical officer for a global technology company. He added: “I managed to get a successful job. After having a rough ride of things myself but coming out the other end, I decided to try and do something good. There isn’t much support for veterans – medical or financial - so what this race team does is absolutely astonishing. We currently have two riders who are amputees and they are both racing at incredibly high competitive levels against able-bodied riders.”
The bikes are customised so that riders who have disabilities can race: “The customisation is ground-breaking. We have a variety of veterans and serving personnel racing including an arm amputee so True Heroes Racing have been able to adapt the bike for him. But it all comes at a cost. Racing is an expensive sport and in many cases, it can cost £40,000 or more per year to run a bike.
“We’re one big family and lots of people can get involved whether it’s as a mechanic, a photographer, a rider or helping to sell merchandise. It’s a great thing to throw your energy into after leaving the military.” You can donate to Anthony’s Justgiving page here.
James Linney, 40, from Penarth, will be attempting a Guinness World Record this Sunday at the Cardiff Half Marathon - he will be running while controlling a tennis ball on a tennis racket. He said: “People have done it before but never over a half marathon distance. Because it’s the first time it’s been attempted, Guinness World Record has said I need to beat a nominal time of two and a half hours. But I’d like to do it in under 1:50.”
A keen tennis player and runner, James is a member of Penarth Lawn Tennis Club as well as Penarth and Dinas Runners, and he’s hoping that he can successfully put the two sports together on Sunday. He added: “I haven’t done much training, but I did try it and I managed a 10k in 51 minutes. Of course, if I drop the ball, I have to go back to where I lost control.”
He will be raising money for Velindre, this year’s official charity of Penarth LTC. “Many members of the club have been affected by cancer including our former chair, Pete Jones, who passed away last year. So Velindre is a charity that’s very close to our hearts.
“It’s been providing specialist treatment and supportive care to cancer patients and families for more than 65 years. Money raised helps fund groundbreaking research and clinical trials, cutting edge treatments, specialist nurses, support services, therapies, equipment and so much more,” James added. You can donate to James’ JustGiving page here.
A Caerphilly firefighter will be taking on the Cardiff Marathon this weekend - running in a fire kit weighing 45lbs. Lee Prescott, from Cardiff, is taking on the challenge to raise vital funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association. He said: “It’s obviously an insulated suit so it does get quite hot so I’m hoping for a cool day! Once the breathing apparatus is on the back, it weighs about 40 or 50 lbs.”
The Motor Neurone Disease Association is a charity close to Lee’s heart after a family friend, Patrick Wharton from Bristol, was diagnosed with the disease just before his 40th birthday. Lee added: “Patrick can no longer talk and is having a really tough time. It’s a horrible disease. I’ve raised about £1,300 so far which helps provide support and research as there is currently no cure. And it can happen to anyone at any age.”
At the start line, Lee will also be joined by his son, Jack. He added: “He surprised me on Father’s Day and said he’d entered so he could run with me. It will be his first big event.” You can donate to Lee’s fundraising page here.
Helen and Matt Coles, together with Helen’s sister Janet Preece and her partner Ian Munroe, from Newport have raised almost £11,500 for Prostate Cancer UK over the last two years, making them one of the event’s biggest ever fundraisers. Now Helen, 44, is gearing up for the Cardiff Half Marathon. She said: “I’m hoping it’s a case of third time lucky. I signed up in 2020 but it was postponed due to the pandemic and then in March, I was due to compete in the postponed 2021 race. I had done all the training but I caught Covid the day before.”
Sisters Helen and Janet decided they needed to fundraise for Prostate Cancer UK after their father, John Hollywell from Hereford, was diagnosed in October 2020 and died just 11 months later. Helen said: “Dad was full of life until he started to get backache. You can imagine our devastation when he was told a few months later he had stage 4 prostate cancer and it had spread to his bones. He was such a great Dad. We’re a close-knit family and he would do anything to support me and my sister so this has been our way of supporting him.
“We decided to raise money in the hope that one day no one has to go through this and families won’t be left grieving a loved one that has gone too soon. We also run for those who are living with the disease and for the families that support them.” You can support Helen and her family reach their goal of £12k here.
Ryan O’Neill, 28, from Cardiff, is also taking on the half marathon for the first time this year. He’s raising money for Alzheimer’s Society and running the event in memory of his grandmother Mona, who died in 2020 after suffering from dementia for several years. He said: “I’m running the Cardiff Half for the first time this weekend. It’s my first ever half marathon and I’m quite nervous - I’ve done running for a few years but only really started to enjoy it at the start of this year, which spurred me on to enter the race.
“Perhaps unwisely I’ve not followed a programme, but I’ve run two or three times a week and slowly built up my distance over the past few months. I did the full 13 miles recently and my legs held up fine, so I’m hoping I’ll get through Sunday without any issues - although I expect to be a bit sore the next day! There should be a really good atmosphere around the city, and hopefully, the rain will stay away."
This Sunday, Ryan’s girlfriend and friends will be cheering him on during the half marathon, which he hopes to complete in two hours. He added: “I’m running for Alzheimer’s Society and doing the event in memory of my grandmother Mona, who died in 2020 having suffered from dementia for several years. Alzheimer's Society does great work supporting families affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia, and I’ve raised nearly £300 during my training which I hope will help them in a small way." You can donate to Ryan’s fundraising page here.
Rhian Ramsden, 34, originally from Tremorfa, is also raising money for Alzheimer's Society as her grandmother has dementia, which Rhian describes as “such a difficult disease” as she’s had it for five years and barely remembers her family. She said: “I’m running for her and for everyone who has been touched by dementia - it’s an awful disease.”
This isn’t Rhian’s first time running the Cardiff Half, she said: “I ran it in March and I did that one because I never enjoyed running but I got into it a few years ago to help my health. I joined the last one as a challenge for myself - and to do it without walking was an achievement - I was so proud of myself. It really showed me that I can do more than I give myself credit for. Three days after that ended, I signed up for the next one.”
Over halfway through the last half marathon, Rhian got an injury which she’s only just recovered from, but wants to run again to prove to herself that she’s “capable of doing different things.” Rhian says that as she just raised money in March for Shelter, she has only set a goal of £300 as she “didn’t want to go too high” during the cost-of-living crisis. She hopes to complete the marathon in two hours and thirty minutes.
Many people will be coming out to support Rhian across the route, but she wanted to add: “People who come out to support are fantastic, they really are. Just being there makes so much of a difference and I just want to say thank you to everyone who comes out to support.” You can support Rhian here.
Lee Gibbons, 42, from Milford Haven, is taking on the Cardiff Half Marathon after his wife, Kate, was diagnosed with aggressive triple-negative breast cancer at the age of 35. He said: “Kate discovered a lump just above the nipple. She went to the doctor twice and was told it was due to blocked milk ducts even though she had stopped breastfeeding the year before. She wasn’t reassured and went back to the doctors a third time just before Christmas in 2020 and was referred for an ultrasound and a mammogram. The mammogram came back clear but unfortunately, the ultrasound clearly showed a mass."
In the new year, Kate was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. After a gruelling eight rounds of chemotherapy, 20 rounds of radiotherapy and two operations as well as contracting sepsis, labyrinthitis and suffering a blood clot, Kate was told there was still active cancer in the lymph nodes. She underwent further chemotherapy in the form of oral medication for another six months.
“We were told this would mop up any floating cancer cells they may have disturbed after surgery,” says Lee. “And this all happened during Covid so there were lots of times when Kate was forced to live away from the children and myself in order not to catch Covid while she was undergoing treatment.”
Kate is now thankfully cancer-free and takes each day as it comes. “She’s doing ok,” says Lee. “She is really positive but she does have her moments obviously. It’s hard not to. She really just wants to forget about it now but is really keen to promote awareness so that other women regularly check for symptoms.
He is now racing to raise money for Breast Cancer Now which funds world-class research and provides support to anyone affected by cancer. Lee has set up a Just Giving page to raise vital funds, you can support it here.
Niall Kiff, 29, from Adamsdown is autistic and is running the half marathon to raise money for APCymru, which helps diagnose people with autism. They offer outreach support to families such as helping families go through the diagnostic process, workshops, clinics and family fun sessions.
He said: "This is my first half marathon and I decided to raise money for APCymru because I’m autistic myself and I was lucky to be diagnosed when I was four years old. A lot of people struggle to get diagnosed early these days, so I thought it would be a good idea to do."
Niall’s target was £100 but has nearly raised £300 for the charity. Since signing up for the half marathon, he’s been running three times a week to prepare and hopes to complete the race within two hours and a half, but the main goal is to complete his first half marathon. You can support Niall here.
Lauren Green, 36, from Fairwater is running the Cardiff Half Marathon for the second time and raising money for LATCH Welsh Children's Cancer Charity, which helps support children receiving treatment for cancer and their families through this difficult time.
She said: "I just wanted to do something with my team and one of the girls heard this story about a little girl who was being looked after by LATCH and was only 5 years old - it reminded me of my little girl. It’s an amazing charity with all the work that they do, so as a team we decided to fundraise for them. We got to work and started training - I did a bootcamp every Sunday of this month, in Llandaff fields, for anyone to join to raise money for LATCH."
Lauren shares how running has helped with her mental health, saying: “I ran a half marathon before at the beginning of my fitness journey when I was really low and I lost loads of weight - I signed up as switching off and running would just really help me.” However, seven years later, Lauren is running the half marathon a second time in a much better mindset.
She said: “It’s been useful looking back to look forward, to see how much I’ve come since then. This time, I trained properly once I signed up in July. Throughout summer I was getting up at 5am to get my run in before going live to workout with my team, and I’ve been running consistently since July building up my fitness and time.” Lauren hopes to complete the half marathon in one hour and 45 minutes and raise as much money as she can for LATCH. You can support Lauren's fundraiser here.
Ollie Banks, 9, took part in his second Cardiff Half children's race yesterday to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Ollie has a condition called Ebstein’s Anomaly, which is a condition where the valve which directs blood through the right side of the heart doesn’t work properly. Over time, the heart works harder to compensate for this dysfunction, which can lead to enlargement of the heart muscle and heart failure.
He said: “My heart has a ‘glitch’ that is changing as I grow, and it means that I will need an operation to fix it. I run to keep my heart healthy and happy. I want to help all the heart doctors learn new ways to fix broken hearts and be the best that they can be in helping children like me.”
Ollie first ran the Cardiff Junior Half 2022 last March. He ran a mile, securing a personal best of 7 minutes and 21 seconds and raising £900 for the British Heart Foundation. In May he joined in the Cardiff Bay Run Children’s Future Challenger one mile race, supported by his proud parents Kirsty and Steve, and his big brother Jack.
Ollie’s mum Kirsty says, “Cardiff Half was his first fundraising event, and his original target was to raise £100. He achieved this within hours, so he set a new target of £900, which he hit, and he’s set a target of £1,000 for October’s Cardiff Half children’s event to celebrate his tenth birthday on October 24.” You can still support Ollie's JustGiving fundraiser here.
The Cardiff Half Marathon also holds a prestigious World Athletics Elite Road Race Label, and will feature its strongest elite field to date, with more nationalities represented than ever before. Elite runners from Canada, Djibouti, Great Britain, Ethiopia, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway and Uganda are expected to make up tightly contested races in both the men’s and women’s races, with course records of 59:30 and 65:52 expected to fall.
The Cardiff Half Marathon is now a part of the SuperHalfs series, which has got underway in 2022. It includes half marathon races in Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia and challenges runners to complete the circuit in 36 months to complete a ‘SuperMedal’.
READ NEXT:
You can book a Halloween-themed spa day this October in Cardiff
I tried the new £1 pill that claims to banish hangovers for good and this is what happened
Pair quitting pub after 26 years because energy and wholesale food prices have doubled
The new youth-led Cardiff café that’s ‘better than Starbucks’
