18 moving pictures of the Stafford Half Marathon 2026 capturing the joy as runners take to the streets of county town, including fun fun and fun run

The route for the half marathon took runners out onto the Newport Road, around Wolverhampton Road and onto the A34, before heading out past Baswich and Kingston Hill and onto the A513 for Beaconside.

From there, it headed west over the top of Stafford, then head back down the A34 back into the town centre, with the final mile looping around the town centre before the finish back at Victoria Park.

They were watched by cheering crowds who encouraged them through the pain barrier and marshals who handed out water and sweets to give them energy at strategic points.

The event was organised by Freedom Leisure which runs Stafford Leisure Centre and Rowley Park Sports Stadium in the town and a spokesperson said the event was a great success.

They said: "There is always a good mix of experienced runners who do a lot of these events and people who run for fun but may not have completed a half marathon before. The event was slightly delayed whilst people who hadn't pre-registered did so but it went smoothly and the weather was good.

" A huge well done to everyone taking part this year, an incredible effort from runners, volunteers, and supporters across Stafford."

The winner of the half marathon was Lee Gratton of Rugeley Runners in a time of 1:05.32, with Matt Crichton second in 1:07.57 and third Jason Bennett 1:12,29.

For one runner, Craig Campion it was his first half-marathon and he used it as a training run for the London Marathon in May where he will run for charity.

Craig, who lives in Uttoxeter but works in Stafford smashed his personal best time in the distance by 12 minutes, finishing in 1: 52.20 and said the atmosphere was 'wonderful.'

He said: "It was great to be able to take part, I work in Stafford and obviously know the area well and to see thousands of people come out to watch and encourage the runners was great.

"I now need to continue the progress for the London event which will be my first marathon and this has given me a lot of encouragement for that."

Before the race, Ellie from Hednesford, a veteran of the half marathon, having run at Nottingham, Lincoln and Shrewsbury in recent weeks said she was hoping to her friend Katie a personal best.

She said: "Everyone has been really welcoming and encouraging of each other in terms of the runners which is great - I am trying to help Katie get around 1:52 which would be a PB for her.

One person who did achieve that was experienced runner Rachel Deakin from Lichfield who went round the half marathon course in 1:48.

She ran with her friend Nicola Warner who came in just behind her.

Rachel said: "I always love doing the Stafford event because the crowd are amazing and encouraging and that inspired me to get a new PB which I was delighted with."

The focus will now be on the Stafford 10k race which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and takes place on Sunday September 20 - you can enter here