Runners looking ahead to an early season Half Marathon can now put Valentine's Day in the diary, with entries open for the 2027 Hampton Court Half Marathon.

The race returns on Sunday 14 February with an 8:40am start, continuing an event that has been part of the local running calendar since its first edition in 2014.

It has grown considerably since then. Organisers say more than 28,000 runners had completed the Hampton Court Half Marathon by February 2025, attracted by a predominantly flat course built around one of the most recognisable stretches of the River Thames.

Runners start on Giggs Hill Road before a route that takes in the riverside, Hampton Court Palace and Barge Walk, with both Hampton Court Bridge and Kingston Bridge forming part of the journey. The finish is at the event village on Atwell Place in Thames Ditton.

Speed is certainly part of the attraction. The course was measured by Olympic Games course measurer Hugh Jones and can be used towards London Marathon Good for Age requirements. Christopher Wright's 1:08:49 from 2019 remains the men's course record, while Annie Birch set the women's mark of 1:18:37 in 2022.

Pacers will also be available for runners targeting a particular finishing time, while every finisher receives a medal and technical T-shirt.

Early bird entries remain available until the end of October, giving runners plenty of time to make Hampton Court one of their first major targets of 2027.

Flat, fast and alongside the Thames, there are certainly worse ways to spend Valentine's Day.

You can enter now via the runABC race hub.

Image courtesy River Thames Running.