Words Hannah Lees

For regular runners, races are an integral part of the sport, the anchors on which we hook our training plan. Every year, there are also lots of people who take up running specifically to enter a big event as a personal challenge or to raise money for a cause close to their hearts. It’s no understatement to say that 2020 has put paid to many best laid plans; when Covid-19 brought races to a sudden halt in March, the Bath Half Marathon was one which found itself caught in the centre of the drama.

We spoke to Andrew Taylor who has been organising the Bath Half with his wife, Mel, since 2000 about what he describes as “the most challenging event I’ve ever delivered in my life and probably ever will”, about the joy of running events, and about how races could look as we move forward.

What’s it like to organise the Bath Half?

Very exciting, potentially challenging, very stressful. There’s a build-up of pressure in the months that run up to the event. When I walk down Great Pulteney Street in the middle of the race period, the whole street is in our control. Everyone is our responsibility. And then by 6.30 on Sunday evening it’s as if we never existed, like the tide has come in and washed the beach clean. Everything is back to normal.

Why is it so popular?

I see our event as celebratory. People go out and do their training and then come together to celebrate. They get a medal, t-shirt and chip time, and they’re talking about it for weeks afterwards.

We don’t cater for anyone specifically: we embrace everyone. The people at the back have had far more of a personal journey than the fit 20 year olds, for instance. I mean, have you tried running for four hours? I say hats off to those people. They’ve got themselves to the point where they can run 13 miles on the road. They’re the ones who inspire me to keep going. As a society, we’re facing an epidemic of diseases linked to inactivity: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression and some of those can be treated, or even cured, by exercise. Running events can make significant differences – like Parkrun, for example. It’s phenomenal what it’s done in terms of public health; Parkrun wouldn’t have been founded without events like ours and our events are now thriving as a result of Parkrun.