One of the highlights of London's running calendar where culture and movement collide! This festival weekend, featuring the popular Hackney Half Marathon, returns to the Marshes in springtime.
Expect pure vibrancy as the borough comes alive for three days of celebrating the best of East London culture with crowds cheering you on at every turn!
In fact, spectators and supporters line the streets in their thousands to cheer on runners. Combined with entertainment on the course, this creates a rapturous, motivational atmosphere to help push you to the finish line!
The three-day festival takes over Hackney with the air pulsing to live music, the sun shining and bars spilling out onto the streets. It's as fun for spectators as it is for runners.
Everyone aged 16+ can walk, jog or sprint the 5K course which is completely free, soaking up the festival vibes as you go.
Hackney is an exciting borough with vibrant street art and this route is designed to showcase its culture! Full of twists and turns, local landmarks and the Olympic Park.
Spectators and runners will be entertained with yoga classes, stretching workshops, exhibitor demonstrations, food stands, bars, live music and more. Runners will hang around for hours afterwards, decked out in new medals and race t-shirts!
Event details are on the Hackney Half Marathon listing.
These charities have places in the event. To secure your place, select a charity and complete the form to ask a question or get signed up.
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Every year thousands of runners take part in this event and fundraise for charity. While this is hugely beneficial to the charities it gives the runner advantages too, from supporting a cause that is close to your heart to securing a place in this highly sought-after event and much more.
Committing to raising money for charity gives you motivation to get outside and run, plus all of these extras which will elevate your event experience:
Charities know that raising money is all part of the challenge, which is why they provide advice, branded materials and a personalised online fundraising page to help the donations roll in. Think videos for social media, branded imagery and testimonials from previous runners.
Whether this is your first run or your fifth, you'll need to train for it! You'll receive an in-depth training plan with guidance, plus many charities have access to expert coaches and elite runners too, who can provide exclusive tips for your race preparation. Experts include Runningwithus, Full Potential and five-time Olympian Jo Pavey!
When you show up on the day, people need to be able to see clearly that you're supporting a charity. Most charities will give you a branded and personalised t-shirt or vest to run in on the big day, and often a training top too.
When you're partway through your run and your energy is flagging, what you need is a boost from cheering spectators to keep you moving. Many charities set up a cheer station along the route, keeping an eye out for you to send up a huge cheer as you run past!
Refreshments and an indulgent post-race sports massage are often provided by charities for their runners. This is the perfect way to recover alongside other people who have run for that cause.
You won't be the only person running for that charity, so it's well worth meeting other runners through the charity's invite-only social media pages! You can organise to meet up for training runs, chat with the charity's expert coaches and share tips and stories with each other to keep the motivation levels running high.
Charities buy places in this event, then give them to runners who agree to raise money for the charity – these are called charity places. Charity places are a great way to support a good cause and get a place in the event, especially if general entries are closed.
Running a half marathon and charity fundraising go hand-in-hand - which charity will you run for?