Broadway Market Traders Lose Thousands as Hackney Half Marathon Route Changes

Broadway Market traders say the hackney half marathon route change is costing them thousands after runners were diverted away from the street for the 2025 event cycle. On Sunday May 17, more than 25,000 participants were set to run through Dalston, Homerton and London Fields instead of crossing over the Regent's Canal and up Broadway Market.

Alex Bloom on Aya & Suki

Alex Bloom, who has run the vegetarian restaurant Aya & Suki on Broadway Market for eight years, said the difference was immediate. "On a Hackney Half day, we'd take about £3,000, but with the food market running last year it was more like £500," she said. "This is the one day we make money."

Hackney Council moved the route away from Broadway Market to facilitate the Sunday street market. Traders say that change stripped out one of their strongest trading days, because the race had previously cleared the street for one Sunday a year and pulled customers toward the shops, cafes and restaurants that line the road.

William Cheshire and Stephane Cusset

William Cheshire, who runs a bespoke jewellery business and on-site workshop on Broadway Market, said: "This is a real crunch point. The atmosphere is fantastic because you get supporters cheering and echoing around the buildings. It's a big part of the community," while Stephane Cusset, who has traded there for over two decades, said: "We just made so much more on the Hackney Half when there was no Sunday market. It was a really good day for businesses because it was so busy on the street."

Businesses on Broadway Market have now written to the local authority. The letter was signed by 23 businesses and asked the council to review how the event is managed in future, ensure the widest possible benefit to the local economy and seriously consider returning to the original route. Among the signatories were The Dove pub, El Ganso, Fin & Flounder and Shrine to the Vine.

The race has been part of the borough since 2014, and the trade-off now sits in plain view: a Sunday market the council wanted to support, and a route change traders say has cut them off from one of the busiest days of the year. For shops like Aya & Suki, the numbers are already clear enough to press the case for a rethink.