The streets of Liverpool were home to a powerful show of community spirit this weekend, as the city’s iconic Half Marathon and 10 Mile Road Race kicked off the running season in spectacular style.
Thousands took part in the much-loved event, one of the North West’s longest-established road races, coming together to challenge themselves while supporting vital causes.
This year, the North West Air Ambulance Charity (NWAA) was proud to be the headline Charity Partner, with more than 150 dedicated runners raising an incredible £25,000 to help keep the charity’s lifesaving service flying.
Every runner has a personal reason for supporting the charity and its lifesaving work. Runners included Mum of two, Sarah Rattray from Aintree, who works in the charity’s supporter engagement team.
Sarah said: “I started my running journey by completing the NHS Couch to 5K programme at the end of 2024. At the beginning, I struggled to complete the 60-second runs, so completing a half-marathon was a massive achievement for me.
“I ran the Liverpool Half-Marathon to support the North West Air Ambulance Charity because their crews save lives every single day across our region. They bring advanced emergency care directly to people when every second counts, often in the most critical situations.
“The charity receives no government funding for its daily operations, which means it relies entirely on donations.
“By running this half-marathon, I helped to raise money to help keep their helicopters flying and their specialist teams responding when people need them most.”
Alex Livesey, from Hesketh Bank, also ran for NWAA. He gained a personal best at the half-marathon distance. Alex said: “I tried to do three runs per week, a fast short run, a slow zone two run, and always a long weekend run at the pace I wanted to run on the day.
“I knew about NWAA but did not realise they receive no government funding. When I heard this, I knew I had to try to help if I could, because you never know if one of your family members or loved ones might ever need the lifesaving service.
“I did a lot of my fundraising through social media. I tried to make different videos for my training runs to engage people, giving a weekly update to everyone on how we were doing with the fundraising and how close we were to the target.
“I think just being consistent with this helped me reach a lot of people and always tagging NWAA, as well as family and loved ones, helping out.”
Jackie Marsh from Southport also took part in the half-marathon in aid of NWAA – her husband Jonathon was also running but had to pull out due to an injury.
She said: “I’m delighted to have completed the run and very proud to have run it for NWAA. As a previous patient, I will forever be so very thankful to them for saving my life! And also, for everyone else who they’ve looked out for.”
Following another successful race, the charity is now encouraging supporters to look ahead to next year’s event and consider joining Team NWAA.
Whether you are running your first race or aiming for a new personal best, the Liverpool Half Marathon and 10 Miler offer an opportunity to be part of one of the North West’s most popular running events while helping the North West Air Ambulance Charity.
Although the race date is TBC (either 14th or 21st March 2027), registration is now open for charity places. Every bit of support helps keep the crews ready to save lives.
To get involved in 2027, visit this link for more information.