The Big Half charity places for 2026

Provisional timetable

• 08:25 | Elite Wheelchair race then Elite Men and Women
• 08:30 | First mass wave
• 10:00 | Then waves every 10 minutes until 10am

Other weekend events

The New Balance Big Relay covers the same course in four legs and the Big Mile is free, family-friendly event that takes place on the same finishing stretch, ending at the Cutty Sark.

Spectators

The praise and encouragement of spectators and charity cheerers fuel the participants' spirits and create an electric atmosphere!  As well as watching along the route, spectators are welcome to join in the fun at the free Festival Area in Greenwich Park, where you can celebrate with family and friends. 

Event HQ

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge Road
London
Greater London
SE1 2AA
UK

Start

Next to Tower Bridge.

GPX route

The route is displayed on the map above.

Overview

Road - fast and flat.

The 13.1-mile route of The Big Half and the New Balance Big Relay starts on The Highway by Tower Bridge and finishes beside the historic Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

The route passes through the four London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich – taking in Canary Wharf, Wapping, Tower Bridge, Rotherhithe and Deptford along the way – before finishing at the iconic sailing ship.

Map

Cut off

4 hours.

You have four hours to complete the half marathon. If you’re unable to maintain a four-hour pace, but wish to continue, you’ll need to move onto the pavement for safety reasons. The team would stay with you and support you to the finish line. 

This event aims to inspire and deliver innovation in mass participation event sustainability.

Sustainability

• Bottles and cups

  Recycle every plastic bottle.

• Emmissions

  Reduce power usage and use hydrotreated vegetable oil in generators.

• Waste

  Waste separation to aid recycling and plastic-free finisher bags made from sugarcane.

• Trees not tees

  Participants can opt to plant a tree rather than receive a t-shirt, planting the seed for sustainable change.

Included

• Event photography
• Timed results
• BUXTON® Natural Mineral Water and Lucozade Sport
• Finisher’s T-shirt and medal (optional)
• Option to plant a tree with Trees Not Tees
• Free trial with Coopah, the Official Training App for The Big Half
• Tracking app

Optional extras

• Event photos

Facilities

• Free bag drop
• Toilets, including accessible toilets
• Free Festival Area in Greenwich Park, where you can celebrate with family and friends
• Sensory Calm Space
• Parent and Child Space (for breastfeeding/pumping and entertaining young children)
• Multi-Faith Prayer Space
• Sanitary products available

Every year thousands of runners take part in this event and fundraise for charity! While this is hugely beneficial to the charities it gives the runner advantages too, from supporting a cause that is close to your heart to securing a place in this sought-after event and much more.

Benefits of running for charity

When the going gets tough, your admirers step in! As 'masters of motivation', your chosen cause will spur you on and provide plenty of perks in the process:

• Fundraising support

  Charities know that raising money is all part of the half marathon challenge, which is why they provide advice, branded materials and a personalised online fundraising page to help the donations roll in. Think videos for social media, branded imagery and testimonials from previous runners.

• Training support

  Whether this is your first run or your fifth, you'll need to train for it! You'll receive an in-depth training plan with guidance, plus many charities have access to expert coaches and elite runners too, who can provide exclusive tips for your race preparation.

• Branded running kit

  When you show up in London on the big day, people need to be able to see clearly that you're supporting a charity. Most charities will give you a branded and personalised t-shirt or vest to run in on the big day, and often a training top too.

• Support on the day

  When you're partway through your run and your energy is flagging, what you need is a boost from cheering spectators to keep you moving. Many charities set up a cheer station along the route, keeping an eye out for you to send up a huge cheer as you run past!

• Post-race recovery

  Refreshments and an indulgent post-race sports massage are often provided by charities for their runners. This is the perfect way to recover alongside other people who have run for that cause.

• Exclusive social groups

  You won't be the only person running for that charity, so it's well worth meeting other runners through the charity's invite-only social media pages! You can organise to meet up for training runs, chat with the charity's expert coaches and share tips and stories with each other to keep the motivation levels running high.

Running The Big Half and charity fundraising go hand-in-hand - which charity will you run for?

Really great atmosphere and great for chasing down that PB!! Would recommend to every runner. Lucy R

It was fun running over Tower Bridge. Lynsey K

It's a great race with a big crowd of runners. Connor D

This is my favourite half marathon. I love the route as it takes in some great parts of London- including Tower Bridge and ends up in Greenwich. 

It has great PB potential. Sarah M

 

I loved the route. Running through parts of London I’ve never visited before. Support was fantastic. I got goosebumps running over London Bridge because the support was so loud.

A great sized medal and a nice T-shirt and food bits at the end. Dan M

It's a flat, fast course with a great atmosphere, fantastic crowds spectating and the medal and T-shirt are very nice. David A

Reviews thanks to RaceCheck