Has anyone done the Brighton Marathon? Keen to know if there is any car parking, or any tips on how to get to the start on time where you don’t need to stay in a hotel overnight.
done it 4x in the early days.
best suggestion is to stay out of Brighton and get a train in - if from Eastbourne side, go via Lewes and get off at London Road and it’s a short walk from there to the start area. From the North there is a station at Preston Park. From West get off at Brighton central and have a slightly longer walk
I thought they were rebranding it to the Brighton Ultra?
Thanks @fatbuddha. Want to target an April / May marathon so Brighton might be a good option, or Southampton. I’ll look at train connections from Guildford for Brighton Central.
As @fatbuddha says, there are 3 train stations which are pretty close.
If you are driving then check out Find your parking zone and buy permits | Brighton & Hove City Council , there are quite a lot of residential roads off the main A23/London Road on the way in that don’t require permits (currently). But it would then be a bit of a hike back to your car afterwards.
Never done the marathon, but lived in Eastbourne for years, worked in Brighton a few and my now wife lived next to the main station. Parking is just a joke, beyond a joke. As Fatbuddha says stay out of Brighton. Note if you come into the main station you have a big uphill walk back. If you are getting off at Preston Park a stab vest is advisable.
Other options are one of the estates on the outskirts and bus in. I used to work in Hollingbury which is not far out, there is an Asda there, you used to be able to park on the road outside there, but that was a long time ago and it may have changed.
I booked into the NCP by Brighton Theatre £28 9-5
I drove us down, the road diverts only 50 yards from the entrance to Preston Park so it was piss easy to stop and get my stuff together, and swap drivers. Wandered over and had over an hour to spare before the start, got there about 8:15/8:30ish.
Put on your sun cream and Vaseline, take a cap, some water and gel or two with you, ideally imo. Water stations were pitiful amounts of water, and there’s a big gap between 2.5miles and 7.5 miles iirc.
That’s me powerwalking 5:10/km while @badash is in the middle of his big fish-little-fish-cardboard box routine (other captions acceptable)
I cover up half my face, and yet I still manage to gurn in every running photo