Talking Point

2009 HALF MARATHON FACING CANCELLATION!

Following my recent article on the increasing cost of event delivery it is now very likely that the 2009 Liverpool Half Marathon will not be staged.

Following a reduction of some 800 or so entries in 2008 (equating to around £13,600 in lost revenue) the event has again lost money on the back of being dropped by London Marathon Company in 2006. Clearly if the event cannot at least break even then it becomes unsustainable. Despite the best efforts of 'runliverpool' to develop the race since LMC withdrew from the city two years ago the fact remains that costs for delivery are now considerably greater than the revenue it generates.

As highlighted previously, the costs for Policing the event along with Stewarding and Traffic Management accounted for around £48,000 - and that is just too high a price to pay I'm afraid.
This is a very disappointing outcome for me personally as I have been involved with the event since 1994. I find it something of a paradox that when we staged the event on a voluntary basis with fewer numbers it was a much easier event to deliver. However, the commercial pressures on the event are now such that without significant sponsorship and around 6,000 entries (at least) then the Half Marathon is no longer financially viable.

Having looked at a city centre start and finish to cut out the considerable costs of bus transportation for runners and the logistics of Sefton Park, I have just found out that the Arena Conference Centre is not available for use on or around March 29th. This was a serious consideration to see if operational costs could be reduced and at the same time make best use of the city in a further attempt to increase participation. After some investigation it would seem that in addition to the date in March not being available, the use of the Arena / Conference facility would be cost prohibitive anyway.

Consequently it is with great regret that I can only see it being dropped from the portfolio for 2009. I cannot see how the Half Marathon can be salvaged commercially at this point in time. Between now and the end of the year I will continue to see if additional support can be secured but at the time of writing (April 28th) it remains to be seen what can be done.

One alternative that might be considered is to revert back to the combined Half Marathon and 10K event on a September / October date. I'm sure that the suggestion will not meet with wholesale approval but the alternative may well be no half marathon at all! It is certainly worth considering as an alternative. Let me know what you think.

Alan Rothwell
'runliverpool' initiative