Royal Parks Half Marathon
Ballot guide

You can enter through the public ballot, a charity place, a corporate place or, for eligible community running groups, a discounted group place. If you miss out in the ballot, charity partners and The Royal Parks charity's own team hold guaranteed places, and companies can buy team places.

1. Public Ballot

There are two ballots: one for UK residents and one for runners who live outside the UK. Both are limited to one entry per person, and places are drawn at random, so entering early gives no advantage. The most recent ballot was open for less than two weeks, and results came out by email the following week. Successful entrants then have a few weeks to confirm, pay and complete their registration, or the place is lost. The entry fee is £66 plus a £4.95 admin fee, and you must be 17 or over on race day.

In the UK ballot you can choose to pay the fee when you enter. Runners who paid upfront but missed out go into a second chance draw for places that were not taken up. If they miss out again, the fee is not refunded: it becomes a donation to The Royal Parks charity. In the overseas ballot you only pay if you are offered a place.

Ballot places can be transferred to a friend or family member for a £5 admin fee until early September. A place from the UK ballot can only go to another UK resident.

2. Charity Places

Charities of all sizes buy places in the race and offer them to runners who fundraise for them; the official website lists the causes with runners in the race. The Royal Parks charity runs its own team, Team Royal Parks, with a £35 registration fee and a minimum sponsorship target of £350. Only a limited number of Team Royal Parks places go to runners who live outside the UK.

3. Corporate 13.1

Companies can buy guaranteed places and enter teams of four to seven runners in the Corporate 13.1, a race within a race with trophies for the fastest male, female and mixed teams. Corporate places have sold out in just over a week.

4. Community Running Groups

Free community running groups based in London or southeast England that champion participation from runners with disabilities, from Black, Asian and other global majority backgrounds, or from lower socio-economic backgrounds can apply for up to 10 discounted places per group, at £30 plus a £4.95 admin fee. A group leader applies on the group's behalf.

5. Participants with Disabilities

Runners with a disability enter through the public ballot, a charity place or a corporate place. Wheelchair users in a self-propelled day chair should contact the organisers before entering, and a limited number of wheelchair places are available. Runners who need an assistant should contact the organisers with their request, and every eligible runner gets a free place for their assistant.

A single lap on closed roads through four Royal Parks, starting in Hyde Park and finishing in Kensington Gardens.

• Start: South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, next to the event village
• Finish: Kensington Gardens, in front of the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall
• Distance: 21.0975 km (13.1 miles)
• Start Time: 8:45 AM, in waves
• Time Limit: 4 hours after the last wave starts, an average pace of about 11 minutes 23 seconds per kilometre (18 minutes 19 seconds per mile)

The route passes two royal palaces, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, as well as Horse Guards Parade, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and runs along The Mall twice. After the city streets it heads back into the parks for Serpentine Road, which the organisers call the loudest cheer mile you'll ever hear. There are some gentle undulations, but the course is generally flat, with four water stations along the way.

• Four Royal Parks: Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James's Park and Kensington Gardens, all on closed roads in the centre of London.
• A landmark finish: You cross the line in front of the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall.
• Run for a cause: Runners have raised over £80 million for more than 1,900 UK charities, including The Royal Parks charity that cares for the parks you run through.
• A wooden medal: The race has always given wooden finisher medals, and you can opt out of the medal and the finisher t-shirt when you register.

The most recent ballot opened in late January and closed less than two weeks later, with results by email the following week. The organisers share the next ballot's details early in the year with everyone who registers interest on the official website. Set up a BibsAlert to get notified when the next ballot opens.