Hampton Court Half Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is at the SHL sports ground in Thames Ditton. You first run a closed-road loop around the village before the course heads north along the Surrey bank into central Kingston upon Thames, across the old market place and through the riverside Canbury Gardens. After the turn around mile six it comes back to Kingston Bridge.

The long middle section is the Barge Walk, the riverside path along the Thames beside Hampton Court Park. This is where the surface changes: about two miles of the course are firm gravel, alongside cycle and foot paths, tarmac park paths and pavement. At mile ten you pass Hampton Court Palace, then the route crosses Hampton Court Bridge back into Thames Ditton to finish at the start venue.

Climbing hardly matters; the whole course sits between roughly 5 and 17 metres above sea level. What the course asks for is adapting between road, gravel and narrower riverside paths, and coping with a February morning on an open river.

Pacing Strategy

On a course this flat you can pace by the watch without adjusting for hills. The opening loop around Thames Ditton and the run through Kingston are wide and firm; run them at goal pace and no faster, even while the field is still dense after the start and the pacers are pulling ahead.

The race is decided on the Barge Walk. The gravel path costs a few seconds per kilometre for the same effort, and in February the open riverbank often has wind you do not feel on the roads. The trap is forcing your pace there: run the riverside stretch by effort rather than by the watch, and take the time back over the last three miles from Hampton Court Palace, which return to firm surfaces for the finish.

Training plan for Hampton Court Half Marathon: 12-week build

For most age-group runners the half marathon is one to two and a half hours of steady work just below threshold. With a flat course there are no climbing spikes; the demand is a high pace held constant over the full distance.

The decisive part is the riverside section in the second half. Build longer tempo runs whose last third is on gravel or firm forest track, so goal pace on a softer surface feels familiar. Some long runs should finish with stretches at half-marathon pace, because the course rewards the ability to pick it up again after mile ten.

The race falls in mid-February, seven weeks before Brighton and nine before London, so the build-up is a winter one. Train in cold, wet and windy weather by the water, test your kit for a chilly 8.40 start, and practise drinking at stations that here stand only at 2.4, 7 and 10 miles.

If you are planning a spring marathon, use the half as a fitness check rather than the season's peak: a short taper beforehand is enough, and the marathon block carries on afterwards.