London Landmarks Half Marathon charity places for 2026

Event HQ

Pall Mall
Pall Mall
London
Greater London
SW1
UK

The London Landmarks Half Marathon is so much more than just a run! Every year the race celebrates London's grand, quirky and hidden history like never before. Runners and spectators discover the birthplace of the bowler hat and learn about Roman life beneath the City's cobbled streets.

Starting by Pall Mall and finishing by Downing Street, the London Landmarks Half Marathon route has much to offer including activations, musical performances, DJs, dancers, themed cheer stations and of course world-famous landmarks too:

Famous landmarks

• Nelson's Column
• Somerset House
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Royal Courts of Justice
• Guildhall
• Bank of England
• Monument to the Great Fire of London
• Walkie Talkie
• Cheese Grater
• The Gherkin
• London Eye
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• The Shard
• River Thames
• London Eye
• St. Thomas' Hospital
• Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Theme

Recent themes have celebrated the grand, the quirky and the hidden history of this famous city. Runners and spectators discovered the birthplace of the bowler hat, learnt more about Roman life beneath the City's cobbled streets and found out why Waterloo Bridge is known as Ladies Bridge.

Bringing history to life

• Creator of the bowler hat

  Lock & Co's hatmaker, Thomas Bowler, designed a hardy new hat for the Earl of Leicester's gamekeepers - so the bowler hat was created.

• Britain's smallest police station

  Built so the police could watch troublesome demonstrators in Trafalgar Square.

• Oscar Wilde's memorial

  Designed as a seat so you can enjoy his company.

• Gringotts Bank

  Australia House was used as the setting in Harry Potter.

• London's oldest shop

  R.Twining & Co has been run by the same family from the same location since 1787.

• Guy Fawkes House

  Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plotters met here when hatching their plans for the Gunpowder Plot.

• Shakespeare's House

  Shakespeare bought the house in 1613 on the corner of St. Andrew's Hill and Ireland Yard.

• Postman's Park

  Famous from the film Closer this memorial commemorates ordinary people who died trying to save the lives of others.

• St. Mary-le-Bow

  The famous bell from the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.

• Roman Amphitheatre

  Constructed by the Romans and seated over 7,000 spectators.

• Pudding Lane

  The Great Fire of London started in a shop here, believed to have belonged to Thomas Farriner, who supplied ships biscuits for the Navy.

• Whitehall Palace

  Shakespeare first performed the Tempest here for the court of King James I.

Music

This event brings together celebrated musical talent from across the capital! A motivating soundtrack of pulsing pop, sensational samba and uplifting ballads kept runners going. In recent years, runners were treated to:

• Batala London

  Winners of the Notting Hill Carnival samba category. 

• Drum Works

  London's inspirational and vibrant drumming group.

• Popchoir

  Uplifting songs to keep runners' feet moving!

• London Gay Men's Chorus

  Britain's biggest boyband.

• London Sings

  Keeping spirits high with swing, jazz and musical theatre repertoire.

• Newham Super Choir

  An over-60s choir with classical, pop, jazz and folk.

• Nostalgia Steelband

  The UK's first steel band established in 1964, heard at the London Olympics and BBC Radio London.

• Bar Salsa DJ

  Toe-tapping dance tunes.

• Tuneless Choir

  Do you love singing but lack the ability, practice or confidence?

• Rock Choir

  The world's largest, contemporary choir.

• Singology

  Led by Mark De-Lisser, TV vocal coach for ‘The Voice’ and ‘Let it Shine’.

• The Noteables

  An award winning pop chamber combining good music with serious levels of fun!

• Brassbound

  A brass, wind and percussion group that plays originals, covers, reggae, Afro-beat, Ska, funk, pop, and Nawlins style.

• Vocallective

  An eclectic repertoire runners will love!

• Race Tunnel!

  Getting runners grooving on the route.

Benefits of running for charity

When the going gets tough, your admirers step in! As 'masters of motivation', your chosen charity will buoy you along and provide plenty of perks in the process:

• Fundraising support

  Charities know that raising money is part of your half marathon challenge, which is why they provide advice and branded materials. Your personalised JustGiving page comes with Top ten tips for setting up a successful fundraising page to help the donations roll in. You may receive videos for social media and branded images too.

• Training support

  Whether the London Landmarks Half Marathon is your first or fiftieth half marathon, you'll need to train for it. Your charity may offer a free in-depth training plan with guidance - ideal if you'd rather not subscribe to the event's training app.

• Branded running kit

  When you head to the start line on the big day, people will be able to see clearly which charity you're supporting - a great conversation-starter for solo runners! 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 so you'll look and feel the part.

• Support on the day

  When you're partway through your half marathon 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 (some are 'themed') along the route, keeping an eye out for you to send up a huge cheer as you run past - especially in Central London where many of the charities are based!

• Social group for charity runners

  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.