Post-Event Report Prepared For
Post-Event Report · 2026
Event highlights
2026 Highlight Reels
Oxford Half 2026 · Highlight reel
Oxford Half 2026 · Finisher reel
Event Overview
Registrations · Finishers · Finish Times
Overview
Event Snapshot
15,250
Total Registrations
The largest field in the race’s 15-year history. Standard entries for 2027 sold out in four hours.
Confirmed Runners13,94391.4%
First-Time Half Marathoners3,63226.0%
Charity Entries3,73026.8%
Average Finish Time2:05:01median 2:00:56
Who ran
Participant
Demographics
Gender Split
52.5%
Male
Male52.5%
Female46.8%
Non-binary / prefer not to say0.7%
Age Breakdown
Average age 36.8 (median 35). The largest single group is 25–29 at 18.8%, and more than a quarter of the field (26.2%) is aged 45 or over.
Ethnicity
Source: participant registration data, all 13,943 confirmed runners.
Beyond the start line
Audience Profile
33.1%
have been running for two years or less, and 21.1% said the Oxford Half was their first ever running event.
60.5%
entered to challenge themselves. 43.6% came for the atmosphere and 27.5% to raise money for charity.
72.9%
brought someone with them on race day, and almost a third of those groups (29.3%) were five people or more.
36.1%
stayed in the area overnight, and a quarter of groups (25.3%) spent more than £150 locally on top of their entry.
26.9%
signed up on a friend, family or colleague’s recommendation, and 28.4% had run the Oxford Half before.
39.0%
have taken part in three or more paid running events in the last 12 months, and 12.6% in six or more.
Where they came from
Location
49.4%
of confirmed runners live in an OX postcode. 97.8% are UK-based, with the remaining 2.2% travelling from overseas.
Runners by postcode area
01Oxford (OX)6,892 · 49.4%
02London (all areas)1,401 · 10.0%
03Reading (RG)593 · 4.3%
04Hemel Hempstead (HP)488 · 3.5%
05Swindon (SN)280 · 2.0%
06Coventry (CV)255 · 1.8%
FewerMore runners
Hover a district for its runner count. 9,106 runners mapped across Oxfordshire and the eight surrounding postcode areas.
Top Oxford districts
01OX2 · North & West Oxford884
02OX4 · East Oxford & Cowley775
03OX3 · Headington636
04OX14 · Abingdon510
05OX1 · Central Oxford418
Top counties outside Oxfordshire
01Buckinghamshire379
02Berkshire361
03Warwickshire172
04Hampshire156
05Northamptonshire153
Top international
01Germany58
02United States45
03Ireland33
04Italy19
05Spain18
Partner Data
Runna brand survey results
Participant responses · 1,085 respondents
Runna Survey Results
95.7%
of runners who trained with Runna would use it again: 67.0% already use it and will continue, and 28.7% tried it for this race and would come back.
89.9%
rated Runna good or great as a training tool for the Oxford Half (4.37 / 5).
33.3%
of runners in their first year of running trained with Runna, against 21.3% across all respondents.
32.9%
of 25–34s trained with Runna, the highest of any age group.
50.2%
of runners who didn’t use Runna this time are open to trying it for a future race.
Did you use Runna to train for the Oxford Half?
More than one in five respondents trained with Runna, and 43.9% followed no structured plan at all.
How would you rate Runna as a training tool?
How likely are you to use Runna for a future race?
No runner rated Runna poor or awful. Across all respondents, 62.7% either use Runna or are open to it.
Trained with Runna, by running experience
Trained with Runna, by age
Runna’s share is highest among newer runners: around a third of those running for two years or less trained with it.
Digital
Email · Social · Event App
Our audience
Email Database
764,662
Total Sends
Oxford Half campaigns, 2026 cycle
29.7%
Average Open Rate
225,993 opened
5.4%
Average Click Rate
41,331 clicked
18.3%
Clicks per Unique Open
Across all campaigns
Runna Solus Campaigns
Solus · Full database
The 2026 Running Plan You’ll Actually Want To Stick To
58,384
Delivered
25.5%
Open rate
0.74%
Click rate
81% of clicks went to the Runna OXFORD26 free-trial offer, sent to the full Oxford Half database on New Year’s Day.
Solus · Finishers
You Crossed The Line! Here’s What’s Next
10,306
Delivered
44.0%
Open rate
1.1%
Click rate
92% of clicks went to the Runna OXFORD26 offer, sent to finishers nine days after the race.
Runna A/B Tests
A/B test · GIF vs static
11 Weeks To Go: Are You Training The Right Way For The Oxford Half?
A
GIF version
Same subject line, animated GIF in the email
6,461
Delivered
39.9%
Open rate
5.8%
Click rate
91%
Clicks to Runna
BHigher click rate
Static version
Same subject line, no GIF
6,772
Delivered
38.7%
Open rate
6.8%
Click rate
94%
Clicks to Runna
Open rates were near-identical, but the static version drove a higher click rate (6.8% vs 5.8%) and more of its clicks went to Runna. Combined: 13,233 delivered, 39.3% open rate, 6.3% click rate.
A/B test · Subject line
10 Weeks To Go
AHigher click rate
“What’s Your Predicted Oxford Half Time?”
Subject line A
6,794
Delivered
38.4%
Open rate
6.3%
Click rate
92%
Clicks to Runna
B
“The 3 Most Important Phases Start Now”
Subject line B
6,490
Delivered
38.0%
Open rate
3.9%
Click rate
86%
Clicks to Runna
Both subject lines opened at the same rate, but the predicted-time angle drove a 6.3% click rate against 3.9%, the biggest gap across the two tests. Combined: 13,284 delivered, 38.2% open rate, 5.1% click rate.
In total, Runna content landed in 95,207 inboxes across four solus campaigns (six sends including A/B variants), with around 29,700 opens. Both race-build solus sends ran open rates above 38%, against a database average of 29.7%.
In-race technology
Event-Day App
16,540
Users on race day · Sunday 11 October
19,233Active app users
70% supporters, 30% participants
70% supporters, 30% participants
Daily active users, 4–18 October 2026
App opens342,738
Screen views49.5 per active user951,925
Avg. session length73,567 sessions32.2 min
Follow actions8,471 runners tracked28,386
Accounts created4,151
Update viewsRoute map most viewed (5,677)19,981
Coverage & Feedback
Media · Post-event survey
Press & media
Media Coverage
PR Coverage Report
120
Pieces of Coverage
264.9m
Total Audience
Online78 pieces · 262.2m
Social26 pieces · 817.8k
Broadcast15 pieces (BBC Radio Oxford, BBC South Today) · 1.8m
Print1 piece (Didcot Herald front page)
Reader engagement
23k shares · 12k likes · 5k reactions · ~1.7k comments
Notable outlets
BBC · BBC South Today · BBC Radio Oxford · Yahoo! News · AOL · Runner’s World · Oxford Mail · The Oxford Magazine · Banbury Guardian · Greatest Hits Radio
Coverage Highlights
4 hours
For 2027 standard entries to sell out
- Record 15,000 runners make this year’s Oxford HalfOxford Mail, Yahoo! News & five regional titles · 12 October
- In pictures: Record numbers at Oxford Half MarathonBBC, Yahoo! News, AOL · 11 October
- Oxford Half Marathon live show on race dayBBC Radio Oxford · 11 October
- Oxford Half 2026: A Home Double and £1.3m for CharitySustain Health · 12 October
- Oxford Half 2027 sells out standard entries in just four hoursOxford Mail, The Oxford Magazine, 4 The Love Of Sport · 15–16 October
Coverage period 13 January – 26 October 2026. Source: New Reach PR coverage report.
Post-event survey · 1,194 respondents
Event Feedback
+52
Net Promoter Score
61.9% promoters · 28.5% passives · 9.6% detractors. 44.4% gave the top score of 10.
8.33/10
Overall Satisfaction
91.5% scored their experience 7 or higher, and half (49.9%) gave 9 or 10.
86.2%
Felt the event was inclusive
95.6% said they had all or most of the information they needed before race day.
How runners rated each part of the day
In their words
“Wow!! What an event. Thousands of people all coming together to celebrate and support. It was a privilege to run in the Oxford Half and I’ll definitely be doing it again!”Runner, post-event survey
“Amazing atmosphere, everyone was friendly and welcoming. As a first timer it can be intimidating but wasn’t made to feel that way.”Runner, post-event survey
“The fans on the route — wasn’t expecting so many people cheering the whole way.”Top highlight
“Doing my first ever half marathon and getting a way better time than expected, carried by the energy of the spectators.”Top highlight
“The pre race atmosphere in the race village. The community bands and music along the way.”Top highlight
@oxfordhalf
Social Media
Who follows @oxfordhalf
68% of followers are aged 25–44, 91% are UK-based and 51% are women.
Top-performing posts