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.

Spectator admission

Kew Gardens is a ticketed venue so we are delighted that 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.

GPX route

The route is displayed on the map above.

Overview

Flat, tarmac, professionally measured and certified. No hills!

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

London's flattest 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.

There are also Xempo pace makers to help you judge your pace.

The Kew Gardens Half Marathon course features several iconic landmarks within the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Runners will pass by the Palm House, Temperate House, and the Great Pagoda. The course also includes the Broad Walk, Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, the Kitchen Garden, The Hive, and Giant Redwoods.

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.

After the events, finishers and their families can explore London’s no. 1 visited tourist attraction, Kew Gardens, which holds 50,000 living plants to be found across the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Pacers

8 speeds from 1hr 30 mins to 2hrs 30 mins.

Water stations

There are three water stations on the route at the following distances: 3 miles, 6.5 miles (energy and water) and 9.5 miles.

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

Included

• Fantastic medal
• Amazing technical tee (including female cut)
• Supporters free entry into Kew Gardens
• Access to Children's Gardens
• DJ Music finish
• Great goody bag
• Snacks and drink
• Course entertainment including DJs and cheer stations
• 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 find them in the shop (£7.50 adult £3 child). 

For your spectators to access this free entry they will need to be in the Gardens via Elizabeth Gate before the gates close at 08:20am for the private run. Once the gates close there is no admission until they re-open to only paying customers at 11am. Once you are in Kew Gardens 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

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

Race numbers can be collected on race morning or two weeks before the race from a local sports shop. More information will be emailed to all runners two weeks before the event.

Entry fees