Thames Meander Marathon & Half – March

Marathon Route

A flat scenic riverside trail marathon starting and finishing at the YMCA Hawker Centre HQ.The course meanders along the Thames Path out to the far side of Canbury Gardens and then returns past the HQ and along the Thames Path trail as far as the Barn Elms Rowing Club turnaround point, returning past the HQ again to the far side of Canbury Gardens which is the final turnaround point, returning to finish at the YMCA HQ.

Half Marathon Route

A flat scenic riverside trail half marathon starting and finishing at the YMCA Hawker Centre HQ.The course starts in the opposite direction to the marathon and meanders along the Thames Path out to the first turnaround point at the Kew Gardens car park, then returning past the race HQ and on towards Canbury Gardens just past the Boaters Inn Pub which is the final half marathon turnaround point, returning to finish at the YMCA HQ.T

General

The route for both races will be very well signposted with fixed Hermes Running signs marking the run-route (yellow/black chevron fixed directional signage and pink ribbons all along the route). There will be marshals at both the full and half marathon turnaround points and respective check points which will be well stocked!

The marathon runners will be given red race bib numbers and the half marathon runners will be allocated blue race bib numbers, this is to make it much easier for our marshals / runners to distinguish between the full and half, so if you see a runner flying past you just check out his or her race bib before you decide to speed up!

Time Limit

The time limit for the half marathon course is 6hrs and it’s 6.5hrs for the marathon course.

How difficult is the course?

The majority of the course 99% is flat / fast and is run along the Thames Path out / back. Both half marathon and marathon runners should exercise due care when running under Richmond Bridge then past the Richmond town centre as this area can get very congested so please take extra care when running past this area and be very courteous to the general public.The conditions are weather dependent and if it rains the Thames Path trail can get muddy on stretches due to the tidal flow, so we would recommend light trail or hybrid shoes although if it’s been sunny leading up to the event then road shoes will be fine too. At the turnaround points which both have Aid Stations at the Kew Gardens car park for the half marathon and at Barn Elms Boat Club for the full please move out of the way of your fellow runners if you stop to re-fuel to avoid congestion.