Organisers of the Sunderland City Runs have confirmed a change of date for 2026. The Sunderland City 10K and Sunderland City Half Marathon will now take place on Sunday 17 May, a week later than originally advertised. The change follows the recent release of the Premier League fixtures for next season and means that the event will not be on the same weekend as Sunderland’s home game against Manchester United.
The Sunderland City Runs are organised by Events of the North, in partnership with Sunderland City Council. An established and popular fixture on the grass roots sports calendar, this year’s runs attracted a record number of participants and large crowds of spectators to the city centre. Next year’s 15th anniversary event was due to be held on 10 May, but organisers and the city council have agreed that moving the 2026 runs back a week will alleviate pressures on city infrastructure and limit constraints during event set-up. The decision was made after discussions with the organisers of other events that are due to be held next May, who are happy with the new schedule.
Entries for the 2026 Sunderland City Runs opened immediately after this year’s event. Everyone who has already booked a place has been contacted with news of the date change. Their entries will be automatically transferred to the new date, but they have been given the options of deferring their place for a year, or cancelling and receiving a refund.
Race founder Steve Cram comments: “Clearly, it’s a very exciting time for sport in the city, with our football team being back in the Premier League, while the Sunderland City Runs continue to grow. Success brings its own challenges and in this case, we agreed with the city council that it would be sensible to move our event. We’ve made that decision early and have communicated it quickly to everyone who has already booked a place. I hope that they are all still able to join us on the streets of Sunderland on 17 May next year and help us make next year’s 15th anniversary event even bigger and better.”
Councillor Beth Jones, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for communities, culture and tourism, said: “As both the Sunderland City Runs and the home game with Manchester United are expected to be hugely popular, it makes sense to move the runs to the following weekend.?
For more information about the Sunderland City Runs and to book a place at the 2026 event, visit www.sunderlandcity10k.com
