Thames Meander Marathon, Half Marathon & 10k – March

The time limits for the half marathon and 10k courses is 6hrs, and the marathon course has a time limit of 6.5hrs.

There will not be changing facilities at the event, but there will be portable toilets.

Yes, there will be aid stations along the course, which are detailed above.

There are toilets at the Start / Finish and at Eileen’s Cafe in Petersham. There are also pubs that you can use along the route but we cannot have portable toilets along the Thames so you would need to use the pubs.

Yes, there will be a 10 minute “Health & Safety” briefing that will take place before the start of the half marathon and marathon, so please get to the start in time to attend this. We would also like to make it clear that all runners should use the UKA Approved “Aftershokz” over ear bone conducting earphones so you can hear what is going on around you at all times, and to be courteous to fellow runners and all other pedestrians / cyclists using the Thames Towpath. If you run using any form of over or in earphones as per our terms and conditions, you do so at entirely your own liability risk. Please be very mindful of the public using the trails too, if you are caught being rude to anyone you will be DQ’d from any future events and this includes all our marshalling staff too.

The majority of the course 99% is flat / fast and is run along the Thames Path out / back. The conditions are weather dependant though it’s mainly a firm running surface, I would highly recommend road shoes for this course. The turnaround point for the half and marathon at the Isleworth Eyot will also be very well marshalled.Please ensure that move out of the way of your fellow runners if you stop to re-fuel to avoid any congestion occurring at the check points and please pay particular attention to our marshals on the route, especially at the turnaround point.

The 3 check points will all have a selection of food / drinks including High 5 Gels & bars, Blue Energy electrolytes, pretzels, fruit cordial and water.I would also highly recommend that you bring a hydration pack or a 500 ml water bottle so that you can carry your own electrolyte drinks in a bladder or bottle and to ensure you can carry electrolytes and any food that you’ll need for your race. You will be able to re-supply with nutrition at the all these check points and therefore be more self-sufficient.

There will be plastic pop-up bins provided at all the check points for your water bottles, GU Gel packs, High 5 Gel packs and wrappers to be discarded. We would urge you not to discard any litter on the Thames Path trail at all please, our marshals will take any litter from you so just keep it until you get to a marshal, or use the bins provided which will be at each of the 3 check point locations.

We will be marking the course with fixed Hermes Running pink / black chevron signage throughout the run-route, and there will be marshals at the check points and at the turnaround point at the Isleworth Eyot. Our marshals and will be located at this turnaround point for the half marathon and marathon, so please pay special attention if you are wearing MP3’s, there will also be a Hermes Running turnaround A Frame billboard at this turnaround point.

If you are feeling unwell and need to retire from the race, please contact me David Ross (Race Director) 0798 4540177. You can also inform a marshal or a medic and they will pass on the message to us. Please on no account leave the course without informing us of your whereabouts as your safety is our main priority. My contact number will be printed on the front of the race bib if needed and we would like to complete your emergency contact information too at the back of your race bibs. We would also suggest that you carry your mobile phone with you and download the What3Words app onto your phone in advance, as we can easily locate you within a 3meter radius if you have this app on your phone and can then give us your precise location.

Yes it is recommended that all runners bring along a hydration pack or waist pack with at least a 500ml water carrying capacity so you can then top up your water bottles / and carry gels easily on race day and you’ll be able to re-supply at all the check point locations. The organisers are keen to promote sustainability so please bring your own water carrying bottle or hydration pack on race day. Road shoes are definitely recommended for this course as 80% of it is run along asphalt paths and the rest on very hard packed dirt trails, so you can easily run this in road shoes or hybrid trail shoes. It is also recommended that you don a cap / sunglasses and use screen block as it could be a very hot day. The organiser would also encourage you all to check the projected weather forecast.

The photographer does really professional photo’s and this will be done by Gareth Parker Photography, the photo’s will cost £7.50 each and will be available they have been uploaded using geo-tagging and this will take place within 24hrs of the event staging. There are also be links embedded on my homepage for you to access, in order to purchase the race photographs.

The timing will be done by OneTime Chip Timing and registration will take place on the day, your race bib and will be handed out to you by our registration team and the OneTime timing tag will need to be laced into your running shoe.The provisional chip timed results will be recorded initially but please note that these will only be provisional and will be subject to final verification. These will be uploaded to our Hermes Running homepage directly after the race has taken place, the links will be embedded on my homepage too so once you have completed your race you can go directly to the homepage to search for your provisional results.

Winners’ awards will be awarded and will be handed out to the Male /Female 1st, 2nd & 3rd runners once the directly after the race, there will not be Vet Category awards for these race distances.

There will be qualified medics managed by Kevin Peach from KLP Medical Supplies Ltd. they will be providing professional first aid support on race day. Medics will be situated at the start/finish, and checkpoint 3.

Headphones are permitted but bone-conducing ones are recommended to ensure the safety of all runners. The use of any earphones in accordance with the event organiser terms and conditions of entry also means that if you use any form of earphones, you do so entirely at your own risk.

The race is fully (Association of Trail Running) ARC and UKA permitted and professionally chip timed. In this respect we have all the necessary identifications in place required for this to be an officially recognised as a pre-qualification event for the Comrades Ultra Marathon (South Africa) and 2 Oceans Ultra Marathon (South Africa). This is not an officially measured course however and therefore cannot be used as a TCS London Marathon (GFA) qualification time.

The Marathon cut off is 6.5 hours and Half Marathon is 6 hours.