A combination of Covid and the loss of some key contractors, and this hugely popular local race is off.

This is the statement just released.

We are sorry to announce that this year's Bath Half Marathon will not be able to take place on 29 May and has now had to be postponed to 16 October 2022.

The event sector has been particularly disrupted by Covid and we have had to overcome many challenges over the last 2 years. Despite our best endeavours this disruption, including recent staff absence due to Covid, loss of some key contractors and suppliers, and issues arising from the Cleveland Bridge closure, have had a cumulative impact on our small team, which we are struggling to accommodate at this late stage in our event planning.

So, we have reluctantly decided it would be sensible and responsible to postpone the event until the Autumn.

To the runners, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused because of the postponement. We know many of you personally and know how hard everyone trains every year for the event and are genuinely sorry for the disappointment caused.

We will be emailing all entrants next week with details of your entry deferment and refund options.

We have informed our charity partners and are acutely aware of the role the Bath Half Marathon plays for them in raising invaluable funds to support their vital work at this difficult time, as demand for services and cost of delivery have significantly increased during the pandemic. We would ask runners, if they can, to keep running in support of their chosen charities at the Bath Half Marathon on 16 October.

After two years of dealing with the impact of the pandemic this was absolutely not what we wanted to happen. We know you've missed the Bath Half and so have we. We have loved planning and delivering the event since 2000. We all want to get 'back to normal' and the Bath Half Marathon is a reminder of so much that is good about the city and the people that live here and we now look forward to returning on 16 October.

Later B&NES council said it was surprised at the decision:

"Bath & North East Somerset Council is very surprised and disappointed to see that the organisers of this event have postponed again. Having already worked extremely hard to accommodate a change of route, a change of date, a change of start point, all at the organiser's request, to enable this event to go forward.

For the sake of complete clarity, there is no reason at all from the council's perspective why this event should not go ahead. Indeed, although it is a big ask, if any other professional organisation wished to run an event on 29th May, we would work with them to see if it is possible.

Again, to be clear, the date of October 16th the organisers refer to as an alternate has not been agreed with the council. We are also surprised the organiser is advertising a date next year and is accepting people's entries without having agreed the 2023 date as possible with the council. "