16 Jun Our new map shows just how Amazing Northampton – and our half-marathon – are
Just how much history and heritage is packed into our flagship half-marathon, The Amazing Northampton Run?
The answer is so much that when we created our map outlining the new course for 2025 and the landmarks that are dotted around it, we had to strip some out to make room for the big ones!
Perhaps that should be no surprise when you consider that the town dates back to the Bronze Age, hosted royalty in the Middle Ages, and was the site of two significant Medieval battles and a major player in the English Civil War.
Of course, it is also known as for it’s incredible boot and shoe heritage – hence the neat shoe-shape of our route. Shoe Town is home to the Cobblers – Northampton Town, as well as two other top sporting sides in the form of Northampton Saints and Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. All three sides’ stadia are featured in our race!
The map, which features landmarks such as the Guildhall, Abington Park Museum and the Walter Tull Memorial Garden as well as the relay changeover points, outlines our new route for 2025 – with the race starting at the revamped Market Square in the town centre.
Our first Amazing Northampton Run took place in 2022, replacing the out-of-town Northampton Half with a town centre event. Part of the original route took runners along the riverside, but although this proved to be a pretty section it also came with its own problems.
As those of you took on the first year’s event will remember, there was one particularly bouncy bridge that people weren’t that keen on encountering again! Last year, we added a 190 metre stretch of grass to avoid that unpopular pass, but as someone pointed out that might be a problem if the weather isn’t kind to us.
And the narrow canal path also created some issues, particularly for those runners facing larger crowds in what we like to call ‘the party at the back’. As we continue to grow the event, that option was not a sustainable solution.
So, we re-routed the course to avoid that section.
Famous Northampton buildings and parks:
- Phipps Brewery Bar, where they have been brewing beer for more than 200 years
- The Church restaurant, a stunning building in the midst of the modern town that dates back to 1138 and which has previously seen life as a hospital and part of the railway station
- Carlsberg’s dominant factory, where ‘probably the best lager in the world’ has been produced for more than 50 years
- Sixfields’ Walter Tull Memorial, a tribute to the first black British army officer who also played football for Northampton Town
- The Racecourse, which incredibly performed the role its name suggests right up until 1904 – alongside hosting public hangings in the not-so-distant past!
- Beckets Park, named after Thomas a Becket who apparently drank from a well there in 1164
Fear not though, The Amazing Northampton Run 2025 will still be visiting all its most famed spots, including our controversial Rocky Steps at Sixfields!
This year’s event, due to take place on Sunday, September 14, will have a ‘Great Fire’ theme to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of Northampton in 1675.
The fire destroyed 700 of the 850 buildings in the town, including the original All Saints’ Church. Much of the impressive architecture you see in the town centre rose out of the ashes of that fire.
The response of Northampton is testimony to the resilience of the town and its people that make it such a special place to live today.
Why not come along and witness it for yourselves!
A (very) short history of Northampton:
- 1084: Northampton Castle was built by Simon de Senlis, who became the first Earl of Northampton.
- 1189: Northampton was granted a town charter by Richard I, aka ‘The Lionheart’.
- 1235: Our starting point, Northampton Market Square, was born. It came to prominence after King Henry III forbade the selling of goods in the churchyard of All Saints’.
- 1264: The first Battle of Northampton took place as part of the Second Barons’ War. The decisive victory won by King Henry III had dire consequences for the town. Due to the participation of town academics against the monarchy, the original University of Northampton was abolished a year later – at the time it was one of just three universities in the country, along with Oxford and Cambridge.
- 1349: The Black Death killed more than half the population of Northampton.
- 1460: A second Battle of Northampton in 1460 was a major conflict in the War of the Roses. It marked the first time artillery was used in a battle in England.
- 1675: The Great Fire of Northampton destroyed much of the town.
- 1815: The Grand Union Canal arrived in the town, joining the River Nene, and providing a direct link to the Midlands coalfields and to Birmingham, Manchester and London.
- 1992: Northampton unsuccessfully applied for city status on what would be the first of four occasions – the town was also turned down in 2000, 2002 and 2022.
- 2023: The Amazing Northampton Run took place in the town for the first time.
