River Thames Running event series is organised by RUNFEST limited (Company Reg No. 08521533) and is the amalgamation of four local running events: Hampton Court Half, Kingston Breakfest Run (Formerly known as Kingston Spring Raceday), Kingston Half and River Thames Half.
Three of the above events were previously organised by Quicksilver Running who have been running them since 2012 (Press release here).
Runfest, organised by husband-and-wife team Tom & Jade Bedford, also run GoFundMe Richmond RUNFEST, Worthing RUNFEST and GoFundMe Kew The Run who in 11 years have raised over £4million for our charity partners.
MEET THE TEAM behind the new River Thames Running series.
History timeline
The creation of River Thames Running that will include a series of 4 events include the Hampton Court Half Marathon, Kingston Break-fest Run, Kingston Half Marathon & the River Thames Half.
We were celebrating 10 years of Richmond RUNFEST and expanded to include the following events:
Our team proudly put on the British Olympic Marathon trials inside Kew Gardens that saw Chris Thompson, Steph Davies and Ben Connor qualify for Tokyo. The event was put on during peak covid restrictions and also hosted the British Race Walking Olympic Trials. Check out the highlights here.
Despite dealing with all the covid-19 restarints we managed to put on the UK's largest mass participation socially distanced event inside Kew Gardens.
Just under 10,000 finishers across the weekend of events. A new graze Richmond Sundown 5k was introduced this year in Old Deer Park on the Saturday evening, this contributed towards the record number of finishers. Runners at this year’s ‘realbuzz.com Richmond RUNFEST’ raised over £630,000 for Charity. Since the inauguration in 2013, the event has now raised over £3 million for charities and local community groups.
Our Charity of the Year, Great Ormond Street Hospital, allowed us to officially use a 'Peter Pan' theme, which certainly added many smiles to the best ever Richmond RUNFEST to date.
Just under 10,000 finishers across the weekend of events. A new 5k was introduced this year in Old Deer Park on the Saturday, this contributed towards the record number of finishers. Runners at this year’s ‘realbuzz.com Richmond RUNFEST’ raised over £630,000 for Charity. This total is more than last year’s £550,000 and sets a new fundraising record for the event. Since the inauguration in 2013, the event has now raised over £2 million for charities and local community groups.
Our Charity of the Year, Great Ormond Street Hospital, allowed us to officially use a 'Peter Pan' theme, which certainly added many smiles to the best ever Richmond RUNFEST to date.
We are very proud to announce the new format of the Richmond RUNFEST. The Kew Gardens 10k is moving to the Saturday where it starts and finishes inside Kew Gardens. The Kids' Mile is also moving to the Saturday but stays at Old Deer Park. This leaves the Richmond Half and Full Marathon on the Sunday with the addition of a family funrun happening in Old Deer Park.
The new course changes for all events are amazing and we cannot wait to show you nearer the event.
On 18th September, ‘Richmond RUNFEST’ celebrates its first Olympic-cycle by introducing a full distance river running Marathon through the Royal Borough of Richmond-Upon-Thames.
Starting inside the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the race will tour Londons’ greenest borough, running through the historic Hampton Court Palace.
The Richmond Marathon is expected to raise over half a million pounds for charity and will run in conjunction with The Richmond Half Marathon, the Kew Gardens 10K and the Kids’ Mile.
The Richmond Marathon course is one of the worlds most scenic races that allows runners to run past three historic bridges, two Royal Palaces, and one music festival.
This event has been three years in the making and would not have happened without the great support of Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace, Richmond and Kingston Council.
Richmond RUNFEST’ was inspired by the Great London Olympics four years ago and it is an honor to create an event that runs past the exact spot where Bradley Wiggins made Olympic history.” Tom Bedford, Race Director.
6,000 adult runners registered (4,000 in the Half Marathon and 2,000 in the Kew Gardens 10k) and 1,000 children competed in the Kids Mile races, which was free to all schools in the Borough.
The event raised over £350,000 for our charities including the Victoria Foundation and the Kew Foundation (Official charities of the year).
2014 allowed the event to double in size and saw the addition of the Junior Wheelchair Race, supported by Paralympian Gold medalist David Weir and the Weir Archer Academy.
6,000 adult runners registered (4,000 in the Half Marathon and 2,000 in the Kew Gardens 10k) and 1,000 children competed in the Kids Mile races, which was free to all Schools in the Borough.
The event raised over £150,000 for charity, which included local charities in the Richmond Borough. Our target is to raise £250,000 for 2015.
In November the event was commended for 'Best Achievement in Social Responsibility' at the Richmond Business Awards and we are proud to have the support of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. We were also finalists at the 'Event Production Awards'.
The inaugural Richmond Running Festival brought the best of Southwest London together embracing fitness, charity, tourism and local business at Old Deer Park. The event included a Half Marathon and a 10km run starting in beautiful Botanical, Kew Gardens and finished in Old Deer Park. At the festival 700 local school children ran in the Kids' mile race.
After the event runners celebrated their run in the London Pride tent and were entertained by the boroughs best local music supplied by the famous Crawdaddy Club. Local running clubs were on hand to explain more about what they do and where they run.
