Richmond RUN-FEST was back for a 12th glorious year on Sunday 15th September 2024, with around 5,000 runners of all ages competing in six different events based at the world-famous Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and Old Deer Park, Richmond.

The longest races were the Richmond Marathon and Richmond Half Marathon, with both starting within Kew Gardens where the first 10K are ticked off. With Kew Gardens in the rear view mirror, the next focal points are the 18th-century Richmond Bridge, Richmond Hill (which the runners don't have to climb), Teddington Lock, the 1610-built Ham House, and Hampton Court Palace – quite an itinerary!

The top three in the marathon, which started at 08:00am, were George Seymour (2:39:14), George Mears (2:41:17) and Sam Banner (2:41:50). Charlotte Brooks (3:01:34) just missed three hours in taking the women's race from Alessandra Serra (3:03:57) and Lydia Riding (3:14:47). There were 1,247 finishers in 6:48:28 and the four hour pacers got 550 runners inside that benchmark.

Half the distance was enjoyed by 1,903 runners in 4:13:08. Two hours was beaten by 800 of them as Marius Posa (1:13:58), Joe Killip (1:15:49) and M40 Jan Gunnar Lutcherath (1:17:18) towed the field to good times. The women's race was led by W35 Deborah Bruce (1:17:47), W45 Alice Braham (1:17:59) and Emma Ingham (1:24:41).

The Richmond 10K must be one of the flattest around, with just 16 feet of elevation gained on the route through Kew Gardens and on to the finish in Old Deer Park. A close race was won by Fred Woodward Gentle (34:01) from Olmo Velayos Hernando. Lily Zechmann (39:56), the only female under 40 minutes, took the victory in the women's race from Holly Pearce (42:49).

Hundreds more runners took part in a series of Family and Kid's Mile races from 3:00pm in Old Deer Park. The events culminated with the superb music and fitness festival headlined by Basement Jaxx live on the music stage.

If you missed out on this year's Richmond RUN-FEST there is plenty of time to sign up for Kew The Run events on 29/30th March 2025 – click here for more information.

Results and reports of previous events are at the runABC South race listing here.

Photo courtesy of the Richmond RUN-FEST website