Statement by Antrim Coast Half Marathon regarding wheelchair participants

Recent media interest in our event has shone a spotlight on inclusivity, and we welcome this opportunity to affirm our event vision, our work to date, and to make an appeal to the public for assistance moving forward.

Antrim Coast Half Marathon was established in 2020 and is the first World Athletics Elite label road running event on the island of Ireland. The race welcomes both elite and amateur participants. It is our vision to build an event that is both world class and inclusive, so that everyone can experience the stunning Antrim coastline, safely and in a way that meets their individual needs.

As race organisers we look at the complete race experience, and we are learning and improving year on year. Our responsibilities are paramount, and we take the safety of all our participants very seriously. We are aware of collision incidents at other events, where the event organisers have come under criticism for not adequately risk assessing their course. It is our job as organisers to negate known risk, and we aim to get our planning right rather than rush through delivering an ill-thought-out event. The Antrim Coast Half Marathon course presents particular challenges. Unlike major cities, Larne is a small town with narrow roads. The course also doubles back on itself making sections even narrower due to counter flow runners.

Most other half-marathon events will set elite wheelchair athletes off first, with the elite runners behind. They will then submerge amateur wheelchair athletes and assisted wheelchair running teams within the main body of amateur participants, loosely based on predicted finish time. We know that elite wheelchair racers can reach speeds of almost 20 miles per hour, they do not have a mechanical braking system and have limited manoeuvrability, so turns can be difficult. Amateur wheelchair athletes may be slower on uphill parts of the course but then pass participants once on level or downhill areas. There will be shifting of positioning throughout the race and there will be criss-crossing for water stations and other amenities. Other events usually use rules for passing to a certain side and rely on shouting as a warning mechanism. With a narrow course, the bottleneck at amenities becomes more challenging and elevates the risk of collision. Adding to the risk, if runners do not adhere to the rules not to wear earphones, or are not paying attention, they may not be aware of approaching wheelchairs. As event organisers we need to make decisions about safety and mitigating risk and then communicate this really well, in a timely manner, to all participants. These decisions can only be made by talking to participants themselves, as well as race officials.

In 2024 we engaged local lived experience charity Mae Murray Foundation to assist us in building our inclusive vision. They agreed that gaining the input of race participants themselves is key, putting lived experience right at the heart of the planning process, in a co-design approach.

A task and finish group was set up seeking the following identified expertise and representation:

·      Assisted wheelchair athlete

·      Self-propelled amateur wheelchair participant

·      Self-propelled elite wheelchair participant

·      Race referee

·      Elite runner

·      Amateur runner

·      Organisational stakeholders

Unfortunately to date we have not been able to attract a self-propelling amateur wheelchair athlete to contribute. We have engaged the British Wheelchair Racing Association for input in respect of elite wheelchair athletes, for which we are very grateful, but we do need equitable input from all parties.

The task and finish group agreed timelines within their Terms of Reference. The commitment is to reach decisions as follows:

·      Enhance assisted wheelchair participant facilities by 2025

·      Participation of self-propelled participants by 2026/2027 at latest

With our task and finish group working to the Mae Murray Foundation lived experience led framework ADAPT; which stands for Access, Dignity, All-ability, Participation and Transformation, we are pleased to report that the enhanced assisted wheelchair participant facilities are in place, as per our timeline, for 2025. In addition to accessible toilets, our course has an enhanced accessible toilet, to Changing Places standard, at both the start and end of the course. This is an extra-large bathroom with hoisting equipment, an adult sized changing bench and space for several personal assistants. Individual parking arrangements are also made for assisted wheelchair participants arriving in wheelchair accessible vehicles as we have understood the importance of this, thanks to hearing directly from our lived experience participants. Any assisted runners who wish to take part should get in touch with us directly.

We have had only one enquiry from a self-propelled wheelchair participant and that was back in 2023.  However, we believe that if we can create a course that athletes wish to race on, they will come. We would also love to bring some of the world’s best wheelchair athletes to our event to inspire the next generation of wheelchair racers. That is the Antrim Coast Half Marathon vision; elite and amateur athletes of all abilities taking part on the same day, at the same event, together, happily and safely, as it should be.

We are focused on delivering a great experience for entrants in 2025. When the event is over, we will revert to our task and finish group work in September, and if there are any self-propelled amateur athletes who would kindly lend their expertise to this important work, we ask them to get in touch.

We are grateful to Port of Larne, Mid & East Antrim Borough Council, our sponsors, local organisations and residents, who all work hard to accommodate the event. We have no doubt that once we identify our ask, in terms of extended road closure times, route or other measures, that they will work with us to find the best viable solutions.

In closing we would appeal to any amateur wheelchair athletes to consider lending their lived experience and joining with us in sharing their insights. We would value their input in helping us to set the bar high and create an inclusive world class event.

Updated 08:47

30 June 2025