Kew Gardens Half Marathon

Saturday

• 06:45 | Collect race pack
• 08:30 | Kew Gardens 10K

Sunday

• 06:45 | Collect race pack
• 08:30 | Kew Gardens Half Marathon

Wheelchair users

• The Kew Gardens 10K is wheelchair friendly.
• The Kew Gardens Half is more difficult due to the race running on the Thames Towpath. Please get in touch for advice.

Event HQ

Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond
Greater London
TW9 3AE
UK

By bus

You could park in Richmond or Brentford and get the 65 bus to Kew Green.

Official parking

Must be booked in advance.

Alternative parking

• JustPark
• Your Parking Space
• NCP Richmond Station
• Richmond Riverside Car Park
• 6 nearby Council Car Parks

GPX route

The route is displayed on the map above.

Overview

Starting outside the Palm House at Kew Gardens the brand new course run through the beautiful gardens finishing inside the gardens.

Flat half marathon

Looking for a tune-up race pre-London, Manchester or Brighton? Kew the Run offers a flat and fast course presenting a perfect chance to lock in to some marathon-paced miles.

Highlights of the gardens

• The Broad Walk - start

  Just over 300 meters long, the broadwalk offers an adventure for the sense – with fresh fragrances, dazzling flowers beds and feathery grasses in a joyful display that evolves with the seasons.

• Palm House

  Palm House is a remarkable indoor rainforest, home to tropical plants from some of the most threatened environments in the world. Many plants in this collection are endangered in the wild, some even extinct.

• Queen Charlotte's Cottage

  In spring the bluebells take over the beautiful wooded area that includes Queen Charlotte’s Cottage. The cottage was built as a country retreat, used by the Royal family in the late 18th for resting and taking tea during walks in the gardens. Many exotic animals were kept in the paddocks, including cattle, tigers and even kangaroos.

• The Great Pagoda

  Kew’s Pagoda was created in 1762 as a gift for Princess Augusta, the founder of the gardens. The structure has had withstood a lot of adversity in it’s time. During the second world war British bombers used the Pagoda as target practice, repair holes are still visible today.

• The Temperate House

  Filled with 10,00 individual plants, this vast collection may help us find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, from climate change to loss of biodiversity or food security.

• Kitchen Garden

  In Georgian times, the Kitchen Garden supplied members of the royal family living in Kew Palace. Today, the fruit and vegetables from the garden are used in Kew’s restaurant. Also, more unusual and experimental crops are grown in the gardens, as they may become an important source of food for the future as the climate becomes more unpredictable.

• The Hive

  A visual tribute to Britain honeybees, surrounded by wildflowers, celebrating the environment that real bees need to thrive. The Hive’s mesh frame is constructed from 170,000 aluminium parts and 1,000 LED lights.

• Syon House

  After exiting the gardens and start running down the towpath towards Richmond, on your right-handside over the river you can see Syon House. Syon House, is a beautiful house and home of the Duke of Northumberland for over 400 years. Syon House has a great history, being used a hospital during the First World War and sustaining damage during the Second World War, resulting in the house being opened to the public to cover maintenance costs.

• Richmond Bridge

  Further down the towpath you will reach Richmond Bridge. The bridge was built in 1777 as a replacement for a ferry crossing which connected Richmond Town Center and Twickenham. The crossing is now the oldest in-use crossing of the River Thames and a great place to watch the sun go down post-race!

• Richmond Hill

  After passing the bridge, approx a mile later, you will see Richmond Hill on your lefthand side. Richmond Hill offers the only view in England that is protected by an Act of Parliament and was also used by Seb Coe when training for the 1984 Olympics. Thankfully you do not run up it!

Included

• Fantastic medal
• Amazing technical tee (including female cut)
• Supporters free entry into Kew Gardens for 2 adults and 2 children plus runner (must enter before 8.30am - normally £16 per adult)
• Access to Children's Gardens
• Acoustic music finish
• Great goody bag
• Snacks and drink
• Clearly marked and measured UKA-certified course

Free admission for spectators

Kew Gardens is a ticketed venue so your race entry also allows an additional 2x adults and 2x children (U16) to enter with you free of charge when you arrive for the race!

If you wish to purchase additional entry tickets please finds them in the shop (£7.50 adult £2.50 child). 

This year spectators must enter Kew Gardens with their runner via Elizabeth Gate before 8.20am in order to gain access.  All spectators will be given a wrist band upon entry which will allow them to exit Kew to cheer runners further along the route and then re-enter. Runners and spectators can re-enter Kew Gardens up to 12.00 noon.

Once you are in Kew Gardens after 12:00, you can remain there for the rest of the day but you cannot exit and then re-enter without paying the standard entry fee.

Prizes

Top 3 will win:

• Trophy
• Run-Fest event entry

There will be lots of staff ready to hand you your race packs on race day morning (from 6.45am) but you can also collect your race pack a week before the race at sports shop close by.

Race Numbers are collection only. They can be collected from 10am 22th March until 3pm Friday 28th March from any of the below stores.

Sporting Feet Richmond (9 King St, London TW9 1ND) Monday – Saturday: 10am – 5:30pm Sunday: 11am – 5pm

Sporting Feet Putney (3 Lacy Road, Putney, London, SW15 1NH) Monday – Saturday: 10am – 5:30pm Sunday: 11am – 5pm

Kingston: About The Run (Unit A, 7 Crown Arcade, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1JB) Mon – Sat: 10:00 – 17:00 Sun 23rd March: 11:00 – 16:00

Entry fees

An all round amazing event. How often are you allowed to run around Kew Gardens? The venue is fab, marshals are wonderful - singing, dancing, drumming, acting, hi-fives, shoutouts over the microphone, charity stalls cheering - you name it they do it! Not a single complaint about the route, something for everyone. Stunning stunning stunning. Leanne S

I’ve done this race three times in a row now and love it more each time. Organisation and crowd support is second-to-none, fantastic atmosphere the whole way around and wonderful happy volunteers at the end. It’s not a cheap race but it is good value for money when you consider the top quality Nike T-shirt and fab medal in the goody bag and, the best thing, that you can bring spectators in with you and you can stay as long as you like in Kew Gardens after the race. Shona G

Great flat 10km inside Kew gardens. Well organised and excellent atmosphere on the way round. Highly recommend. Alex D

This is a beautiful (flat) run, in the most unbelievable surroundings. I will definitely be signing up again next year! Georgina S

Kew Gardens is a beautiful setting for a run as the gardens are always stunningly kept. It was lovely to run past the famous greenhouse conservatory. The whole run was on paths within the grounds. Riaz H

A really nice race in an interesting and scenic location. Organisation was good, finishers pack was amazing (loved the Cadburys creme egg), great medal... a very enjoyable morning and a real selling point that you can stay in the gardens after the race. Rebecca C

Free entry to Kew gardens for you and your tribe is included with the entry of racing the race. Will W