Commonwealth Games: Marathon and cycle race routes revealed
Cycling and marathon routes for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have been revealed.
Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre has been announced as the official finish area for the marathon which will be held on Saturday 30 July.
The square will be a welcome sight for the finishers in all four races that will be held on the first Saturday of the Games, with the men’s marathon, women’s marathon and the men’s and women’s T53/T54 events all taking place on the same course which will start at Smithfield, another Birmingham city centre venue that has previously been announced as the home of beach volleyball and basketball 3×3 and wheelchair basketball 3×3 during the Games.
As well as unveiling the full 42.2km/26.2 mile route for the marathon, Birmingham 2022, the organisers of the Games have also unveiled the courses for the Cycling Road Race which will be held in Warwickshire, the Cycling Time Trial which will start and finish in West Park in Wolverhampton and the Triathlon and Para Triathlon events which will be held in and around Sutton Park, six miles north of Birmingham city centre.
Matt Kidson, director of sport for Birmingham 2022 said: “We are thrilled to be unveiling our final venue for the Games and it is fitting that Victoria Square has been chosen as the finish area for the Marathon, as it is located right in the heart of the host city for Birmingham 2022.
“We are also pleased to be able to publish all of the courses for our road events. These routes will help to profile some fantastic landmarks from across the region and showcase the West Midlands to the world.
“Publishing these details with nine months still to go until the Games begin also means that local residents, businesses and other organisations have plenty of time to make plans for when these one-day events are staged in their local area.”
The course for the marathon is split into two sections – a southern loop which the athletes must complete twice, followed by a shorter city centre section which will showcase some of Birmingham’s best loved landmarks to millions of TV viewers, as the runners pass Centenary Square, the Jewellery Quarter, St Paul’s Square and St Phillips’s Cathedral, before crossing the finish line in Victoria Square.
Last September it was announced that the Cycling Time Trial would start and finish in West Park in Wolverhampton but now it has also been revealed that the course for this event, which will be held on Thursday 4 August, will take the cyclists through Dudley, passing the town’s famous castle and zoo, before heading into the county of Staffordshire, with the cyclists then heading back towards Wolverhampton.
The full route for the Cycling Road Race has also been shared.
This event will see the women complete seven laps of a 16km course, while the men will complete ten laps.
The course, which starts and finishes at St Nicholas Park, will see the riders cycling past the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick town centre, as well as Victoria Park in Royal Leamington Spa, the venue for the Birmingham 2022 lawn bowls and para lawn bowls competition.
