The ballot for the 17th annual Royal Parks Half Marathon, presented by Royal Bank of Canada, officially opened today.
Taking place on Sunday 13th October, 16,000 runners will have the opportunity to take part in the race of a lifetime.
Widely regarded as one of the UK’s most scenic half marathons, the race’s participants will enjoy a 13.1-mile route through four of London’s beautiful Royal Parks, including Hyde Park, The Green Park, St. James’s Park, and Kensington Gardens.
The route also takes runners past several of London’s iconic landmarks including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and Royal Albert Hall.
Taking place for the first time in 2008, the race was set up by The Royal Parks charity as an annual fundraising initiative to help conserve and enhance London’s eight Royal Parks for everyone, while enabling charities of all sizes to be involved in a major challenge event.
Since then, the event has raised over £60 million for over 1,200 UK charities – including The Royal Parks, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and Mind.
The money raised by this event for The Royal Parks helps to keep the magic of eight vital green spaces alive, teach children and adults about the natural world, care for wildlife and conserve historic monuments.
Widely regarded as one of the UK’s most eco-friendly major running events, this year the Royal Parks Half Marathon will allow runners to help fund planting Snowdrops and wildflowers along the race route instead of collecting finisher’s t-shirts made from recycled materials.
Runners are also encouraged to avoid using single-use plastic bottles during the race. In line with this, the race provides runners with fill-up stations along the route equipped with compostable cups to ensure all runners have access to water during the race.
Head of Royal Parks Half Marathon, Liz Tack, said: “We are so looking forward to welcoming 16,000 runners to the Royal Parks this October. The iconic route coupled with the amazing atmosphere is what makes the race so special, making for a truly magical experience for all our participants.”
She added: “The fact that the race has raised over £60 million since 2008 is truly astounding, and we look forward to boosting this number even further this year.
Good luck to everyone involved in the ballot and we can’t wait to see you on the start line in October for what will be a day to remember!.”
Last year’s event attracted a stellar lineup of participants including Radio DJ and TV Presenter Jenni Falconer, Olympic Gold Medallist Eve Muirhead, and social media sensation Tom Trotter.
To celebrate the launch of the ballot opening, the Royal Parks Half has partnered with well-known running influencer Michael Adeniran (@theurbanchallenger) to host an exciting ‘Race to the Place’ competition both in person and online, where people will have the chance to win a place in the 2024 event.
For details on how to enter, keep an eye on the Royal Parks Half Marathon’s social media channels.
To enter the 2024 ballot for the Royal Parks Half Marathon, visit the following link: Enter the ballot | Half Marathon (royalparkshalf.com)
The ballot opens on 29th January and closes on 9th February 2024