Frequently Asked Questions

The 2025 Royal Parks Half Marathon will take place on Sunday 12 October 2025. 

The ballot for 2025 will open on Monday 27 January. If you're interested in taking part in 2025, register your interest here and we'll be in touch with details later this year.

If unsuccessful in the ballot, you can still run with a charity place. Each year we have hundreds of charity partners you can fundraise for by running the Royal Parks Half. You’ll be able to find out which charities have places to offer in February here.

The race will start and finish along South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park. This is also the location of our event village including bag drop. W3W: ///guard.tape.coach

You can view our 2024 route map here.

You must be at least 17 years old on Sunday 12 October 2025 (race day) to take part.

Ballot runners who are unable to take part will have the option to transfer their place to another runner via their participant dashboard in June.

Please note: If you were successful in the UK resident ballot, you can only transfer your place to another UK resident. Transfers from a UK resident ballot place to an international participant are not permitted.

The new participant will need to pay a £5 transfer fee at the time of registration. All transfers must be completed prior to Monday 1 September at 17:00 as this is when our runner registration closes. After registration closes, we will not be able to assist with any transfers, including those where an invitation has been sent but not yet completed.

The transfer of places is only available to ballot place runners. If you have a charity or corporate place, you’ll need to get in touch with your relevant contact to discuss your options.

You can access your participant dashboard via your original confirmation of registration email. 

The public ballot for the 2025 Royal Parks Half Marathon opened on Monday 27 January and closes on Friday 7 February at 17:00 GMT.

The ballot closes on Friday 7 February at 17:00 GMT.

The ballot closes on Friday 7 February at 17:00 GMT. Results will be announced via email on Thursday 13 February. 

Successful participants must confirm and register their place before Monday 3 March at 17:00 GMT or they will forfeit the place.

The entry fee is £64 + £4.95 admin fee (£68.95 in total).

Yes, you can still participate in the Royal Parks Half if you are unsuccessful in the ballot. 

Each year we have hundreds of charity partners you can fundraise for by running the Royal Parks Half. You’ll be able to find out which charities have places to offer in February here.

Yes, you can enter the ballot completely free and it only takes a few minutes.

For UK residents, there is an option to Pay Now if you wish to be entered into the ‘second-chance’ draw, however, this is optional and does not influence the first draw ballot results.

The entry fee is £64 + £4.95 admin fee (£68.95 in total).

Please note, if you are entering as an international, you are not eligible for the second chance draw and will only be able to pay for your place if successful in the ballot.

During ballot registration, all UK residents have the option to ‘Pay Now’ or ‘Pay Later’ 

Pay Now 
This does not guarantee you a place in the race. The benefit of paying up-front is that if you do not receive a race place through the first ballot draw, you will be entered into the "second chance" draw.

If you are unsuccessful in the "second chance" draw, your entry fee becomes a donation to The Royal Parks.

The Royal Parks is the charity that conserves and enhances London’s eight Royal Parks, now and for the future.

Find out more about the charity that your donation will help support here.
 

Pay Later  

You’ll be entered into the first ballot draw only, and if successful, you’ll be invited to complete your registration and payment to confirm your place.

The entry fee is £64 + £4.95 admin fee (£68.95 in total)

We are introducing a separate ballot for international runners with the aim of reducing air travel by participants in the Royal Parks Half as this will have a significant impact on reducing our carbon footprint. You can read more about this here.

In 2025, we have introduced a separate ballot for international runners looking to enter the Royal Parks Half. If you are entering the ballot and have an international address, you will use the international ballot form when it opens on Monday 27 January.

International participants do not have the option to pay up front in the ballot and the entry fee will apply to those who are successful in receiving a place.

We are currently looking in to an issue where some users are seeing a 'the registration you tried to submit has been deleted' notification and cannot complete their registration. 

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Successful participants must confirm and register their place before Monday 3 March at 17:00 GMT or they will forfeit the place.