THE biggest running event in Southampton’s history is ready and set to take place this month.

The Southampton ABP marathon, half marathon and 10K will bring 10,000 runners and up to 30,000 spectators to the city on April 23.

This month's run will be the first full 26.2 mile marathon hosted in Southampton for more than 30 years, rivalling similar events in Bath and Brighton.

Starting at Palmerston Park at 9am, the full marathon is two laps of the half-marathon route.

This year’s course, confirmed several weeks ago, will take participants the opposite direction to previous marathons.

For the first time ever, runners will also take on three of the city’s bridges: Cobden, Northam and the famously-tough Itchen Bridge.

In a thrill for Saints fans, the marathon will wind through the middle of St Mary’s Stadium, giving runners a chance to share a space that has seen some of Britain’s greatest footballers.

The finish line will be in Guildhall Square, with thousands of spectators expected. At its peak, around 430 people will cross the line every minute.

Chris Rees, race director for the ABP Marathon said: “This is our third year of running the event and it’s fair to say it’s our biggest and most ambitious yet. As well as adding a full marathon distance, we’ve increased the entry capacity to 10,000 people.

“The sheer sight of that many runners is set to be a huge spectacle and we hope as many residents as possible will come out of their homes to cheer on runners.”

This year’s route has been designed to make as little impact on the city as possible, with less roads planned to be closed than in previous years.

Chris added: “We appreciate that there will inevitably be some disruption as we put on the biggest ABP Southampton Marathon event to date. However, we’ve worked closely with the council and public transport firms to ensure the city is still very much open for business on April 23.”

Entries have officially closed for all three races.