Featured Article

Our First Performance of 2025! 🏃

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday at the start of April. The day of our first performance of the year. The day that almost 10,000 people came together to take part in the ABP Southampton Marathon. 

The ABP Southampton Marathon first took place in 2015, and this year’s event offered a 10th-anniversary celebration with a variety of races: a Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k, 5k, and a Fun Run. All races started and finished in Southampton’s Guildhall Square. 

The ABP Southampton Marathon has grown significantly from its 2015 launch, evolving from a local event to a major highlight on the UK’s running scene. Over the past decade, it has attracted more runners, raised substantial funds for charity, and deepened community engagement. Since its inception, the marathon has raised over £4 million for local and national charities.

As a choir, we’ve been lucky enough to perform at this event a few times and we were honoured to be invited back. This year, for the first time, live entertainment was organised by the team from Music in the City, aptly named: Music in the Marathon for this event. 

For those that don’t know, Music in the City is an inclusive celebration of music of all genres amidst the vibrant cultural heritage of Southampton. Culminating in an annual multi-venue music festival in September. They are a CIC (Community Interest Company) and not-for-profit, with 100% of our funds pledged to the Music in the City Community. They exist for the musicians and the people of Southampton.

This year, the ABP Southampton Marathon claimed to “turn up the volume with Music in the Marathon set to be a vibrant celebration of local talent set to energise and inspire runners and spectators alike.” They weren’t wrong!

With 17 incredible acts performing across eight stages, ‘Music in the Marathon’ brought the best of Southampton’s music scene right to the heart of the race. From upbeat rock anthems to soulful acoustic sets, there was something for everyone. If you were there on the day, you may have seen performances from Scrappy Sinon, Swan Samba, Soul 45, Southampton Salty Sea Dogs, Southampton Ukulele Jam, Rackham, Charlie Smith, Sound Pop Academy, Sing Now Choir, to name a few.

As we arrived, Guildhall Square was jam-packed. The energy was electric, and there were celebrations all around. We always find running events inspiring and uplifting. There’s such a positive, supportive, and celebratory atmosphere in the air. Completing a marathon is a significant achievement, and the sense of accomplishment means that many people felt a huge sense of pride and self-satisfaction.

People run marathons for a variety of reasons, including personal challenge, mental and physical health benefits, social and community connections, and a sense of accomplishment. Some are drawn to the unique combination of difficulty and reward that marathons offer, while others seek to improve their health or join a community of like-minded individuals.

Weather-wise, it was also the perfect day. Before any performance, we always like to have a pre-show briefing with Dan (Choir Leader). This is where we’re told any last-minute updates to the plan and also where we organise our performance lines – to ensure we’re looking super slick before taking to the stage. We also love a good hands-in to bring us all together ahead of any performance. 

Before us, a reggae band was playing and they were sounding incredible. People were singing and dancing along to songs like ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. Great energy!

The stage was cleared, ready for us to take our place. We headed into position and our first track, ‘A Second to Midnight’, started playing. We instantly knew it was going to be an awesome gig. Within seconds, people were dancing with us and having the best time. The PA was perfect and our sound mix was brilliant – a huge thanks to the Music in the Marathon team for this. It was amazing to see people who had just completed a marathon joining us for a dance. Great effort!

We saw so many people singing along to our performance too. Music really does bring people together. Dan took to the stage to introduce one of our next songs and as he named ‘Never Gonna Not Dance Again’, originally by P!nk, a guy in the audience shouted out that it was his vibe. He loved it. He sang every word, danced to every second and shook his hips without a care in the world. We loved it!

It’s hard to describe the energy at performances like this. The atmosphere was electric and so many people came to share how much they loved our performance. Big group vocals, epic dance  moves and awesome song choices help our performances connect with our audiences in a really special and meaningful way.

We’re looking forward to next year already! 💯🏃🏆