The Isle of Wight Half Marathon is held on a Sunday in mid-August, with a 10am start. Ryde Harriers ran it on 18 August 2024, 17 August 2025 and 16 August 2026, the third Sunday each time, so expect Sunday 15 August 2027. The club lists the 2027 race as August, date to be confirmed.
Race HQ is Ryde Rowing Club, at the eastern end of Ryde Esplanade beyond the boating lake, and the start and finish are in Appley Park just above it. It is the middle of the school holidays, so book your pitch and your ferry well ahead. The campsites in St Helens are close to the course itself.
Sunday 15 August 2027 dates to be confirmed
Ryde Rowing Club, Appley, Ryde PO33 1ND (start and finish in Appley Park)
The event's own camping: None. The race has no camping; the rowing club HQ has changing rooms, showers and bag storage.
We priced every campsite below for those 1 nights. 4 have a price; the cheapest is Nodes Point Holiday Park, at £12 for two adults. 2 want a longer minimum stay that week.
Glamping site · Ryde · 1.7 miles
£18 for 1 night, two adults · Airstreams and grass pitches on Ashey Road, about 2.8 km from HQ as the crow flies but a drive in practice. Unmarked pitches suit a running club camping together.
Tents, caravans, motorhomes, pods, airstreams
from £16/night
ViewTouring park · Ryde · 1.8 miles
£36 for 1 night, two adults · On Brading Road, about 3 km from race HQ, beside Whitefield Woods where the course takes a short bridleway. Routes 2 and 3 to Ryde pass the park.
Tents, caravans, motorhomes, lodges
from £26/night
ViewGlamping site · Ryde · 1.9 miles
Minimum stay 2 nights then
Cabins
from £214/night
ViewHoliday park · St Helens · 2.3 miles
Caravans and lodges on Field Lane, St Helens, about 3.7 km from HQ and a short walk from St Helens village, where the course passes. Good for a family coming to cheer.
Lodges, static caravans
Prices on request
ViewSmall certificated site · St Helens · 2.4 miles
£15 for 1 night, two adults · Small Certificated Site on Eddington Road, St Helens, with five tent pitches and buses passing the gate. About 4 km from HQ; tourers need Camping and Caravanning Club membership.
Members only · join the Camping and Caravanning Club to stay
Tents, caravans, motorhomes
from £15/night
ViewGlamping site · Seaview · 2.4 miles
Two woodland yurts near Priory Bay, about 3.9 km from HQ. A quiet bed for the night before, with a beach to recover on afterwards.
Yurts
Prices on request
ViewHoliday park · St Helens · 2.4 miles
about £12 for 1 night, two adults · Large park above Priory Bay with grass touring pitches, about 4 km from HQ. The course runs through St Helens, so supporters can walk to the roadside. Route 8 serves St Helens.
Tents, caravans, motorhomes, safari tents, static caravans
from £12/night
ViewNo campsites match all of those.
This is a different race from the Isle of Wight Marathon, which starts in Cowes in October. The half is two laps of undulating road and off-road running. Each lap leaves Ryde along Bullen Lane, Goddard's Farm Lane and the gravel Attrill's Lane to Nettlestone, loops back to Goddard's Farm Lane, takes a short bridleway through Whitefield Woods, then Carpenters Road to St Helens before a gravel track and Appley bring you back to Ryde.
There are mile boards every mile and water at about 2, 6, 7.5, 9.5 and 11 miles. The time limit is 3 hours 15 minutes, about 15 minutes a mile. It is a running race, not a walk.
In 2026 entry was £18 affiliated and £21 unaffiliated before 1 February, then £20 and £23, plus a booking fee. On-the-day entry was £22 or £25, if the race had not sold out. Entry is capped at 300 and the minimum age is 17. In 2026 entries closed a week before the race, with no withdrawals after that.
Numbers and timing chips are handed out at registration on race morning. The rowing club has changing rooms, showers and secure bag storage. Parking is pay and display, at the venue, along both sides of the canoe lake, and in Appley car park, which you reach via the canoe lake.
The Wightlink FastCat from Portsmouth lands at Ryde Pier Head and the Hovertravel hovercraft from Southsea lands by Ryde Esplanade, both at least hourly. The rowing club is about 20 minutes' walk along the Esplanade from the pier. The organisers suggest an early crossing on race morning to beat the queues for registration, bag drop and toilets. Wightlink offers entrants half-price travel over the race weekend, with details sent on entry. See campsites near the Ryde ferries.
Southern Vectis routes 2 and 3 pass Whitefield Forest on the Brading road, and route 8 runs from Ryde through Seaview and St Helens. All three call at the bus station on Ryde Esplanade, a walk along the seafront from the start.
Whitefield Forest is the closest touring park, about 3 km from HQ, and sits beside the woods the course runs through. In St Helens, Nodes Point and Fakenham Farm are about 4 km away and a short walk from the course in the village, which suits supporters who want to watch both laps. See all campsites in St Helens and campsites in Ryde.
Ryde Harriers list it as August 2027, date to be confirmed. It has been on the third Sunday in August for the last three years, so Sunday 15 August 2027 is likely. The start is at 10am in Appley Park, Ryde.
Race HQ is Ryde Rowing Club, PO33 1ND, at the eastern end of Ryde Esplanade. The start and finish are in Appley Park next to it, about 20 minutes' walk from Ryde Pier.
Two hilly laps on road and gravel tracks from Ryde via Bullen Lane, Goddard's Farm Lane and Attrill's Lane to Nettlestone, then through Whitefield Woods and Carpenters Road to St Helens and back via Appley.
In 2026 it was £18 affiliated or £21 unaffiliated before 1 February, then £20 or £23, plus a booking fee. On-the-day entry was £22 or £25 if places remained. Entry is capped at 300.
There is pay and display parking at Ryde Rowing Club, along both sides of the canoe lake and in Appley car park, reached via the canoe lake.
Retro Staycations, about 1.7 miles away as the crow flies.
Nodes Point Holiday Park, from £12 a night for two adults, is the lowest price we can find over the next year. Prices change with the season and the day of the week, so put your dates into the calculator on this page.
7 of the 8: Retro Staycations, Whitefield Forest Touring Park, Acacia Bay Woodlands (The Woodlands Retreat), St Helens Coastal Resort, Fakenham Farm CS, Priory Bay Yurts and Nodes Point Holiday Park.
Yes: Old Mill Holiday Park.
Yes, at Retro Staycations and Acacia Bay Woodlands (The Woodlands Retreat). Most want fires in a raised pit, not on the ground.
