The Route

Retford Half Marathon Route - Click to be redirected to the Plotaroute website.

The race starts and finishes at Retford Oaks Academy, DN22 7NJ. The race will start at 10AM.

The are 4 water stations on the course, these are located at approximately:

4 miles, Barnby Moor
6 miles, Billy Button Lane & A634 Junction
9 miles, Barnby Moor
11.5 miles, Old London Road.

At the top of Old London Road the route turns left onto the only live road on the route, Straight Mile. Runners are asked to use the footpath at this point all the way back to the finish.

Retford Half Marathon – Road Closures and Traffic Information

The Retford Half Marathon will take place at 10:00am on Sunday 15 March.

To allow the event to take place safely, a number of temporary road closures and traffic restrictions will be in place in and around Retford and nearby villages.

Road closures will begin from approximately 9:00am, although exact timings may vary slightly at the discretion of the traffic management team.

Barnby Moor - Ranby Prison

Old London Road will be closed in one direction from the A634 junction on Great North Road through to the A620.

This route is commonly used by drivers travelling between Worksop and Retford.

Traffic will still be able to access Old London Road from the A1 slip road near Barnby Moor Crematorium, however this will be right-turn only towards HMP Ranby.

A634 – Blyth to Barnby Moor

The A634 between Blyth and Barnby Moor will be closed:

From the Great North Road junction at Barnby Moor
To the Graves Moor Lane junction

Closure times: approximately 10:00am – 1:00pm

Diversions will be available via:

Baulk Lane / Graves Moor Lane
B6045 Blyth Road

These routes will provide access towards Retford and Doncaster.

Billy Button Lane – Torworth

Billy Button Lane will also be closed from 10:00am until approximately 1:00pm.

Barnby Moor Resident Access

Residents in Barnby Moor will still be able to leave their properties, but will only be able to travel towards Retford.

If residents need to cross the closed side of the road, race marshals will assist vehicles through safe gaps in the runners.

Anyone needing to travel towards Ranskill should follow the short diversion via:

Sutton-cum-Lound
Mattersey Road
Daneshill Road

This will rejoin the road beyond the closure.

Access into Barnby Moor will only be possible from the Ranskill direction, via either:

Sutton-cum-Lound, or
Blyth

Retford Oaks Academy – Race Start Area

To allow for the race start:

The roundabout outside Retford Oaks Academy will be closed between 9:50am and 10:00am
Traffic will be temporarily held using stop/go boards

The following roads will also close 10 minutes before the race start:

Lime Tree Avenue
Lime Grove
Hannam’s Yard
Cemetery access road

These closures will restrict access onto Hospital Road.

They are expected to last around 20 minutes until the final runners pass the roundabout.

During this time:

Right turns from Rectory Road and Queen Street onto Hospital Road and Babworth Road will be prohibited
Traffic from Rectory Road and Queen Street will still be able to turn left towards Babworth Bridge

These restrictions are expected to remain in place until approximately 10:15am.

A638 – Great North Road

The A638 Great North Road will be closed from:

Hallcroft Roundabout
Through to Billy Button Lane

Closure times: approximately 10:00am – 1:00pm

The road will reopen earlier if possible, once it is safe to do so and runner numbers allow.

Residents and businesses on the closed side will have right-turn-only access onto Great North Road in the direction of Retford, where safe gaps in runners allow.

Left turns for inbound Retford traffic on the open side of the road will remain unaffected.

The section between Hallcroft Roundabout and Randall Way is expected to be closed for around 40 minutes between 10:00am and 10:40am.

Race Route

The race will follow the same route as the 2025 event, starting and finishing at Retford Oaks Academy.

Runners will start at Retford Oaks Academy and turn left onto Babworth Road (A620).
The race will continue to Hallcroft Roundabout, where runners will turn left onto Great North Road (A638).
Runners will follow Great North Road past Barnby Moor towards Torworth.
At Torworth, runners will turn left onto Billy Button Lane.
At the top of Billy Button Lane, runners will turn right and continue to a turnaround point, before heading directly back towards Barnby Moor.
In Barnby Moor, runners will turn right onto Old London Road.
At the top of Old London Road, runners will turn left onto the A620 (Babworth Road).
Runners will then continue along the A620 for approximately one mile, where they will be directed onto the footpath for the final stretch back to Retford Oaks Academy and the finish line.