The ever-popular Windsor Running Festival will be upon us again before you can say, Windsor Castle! In fact, there are 160 days until the 42nd Windsor Running Festival kicks off with the Windsor Women's 10K on Saturday, 26th September, and the original Windsor Half Marathon on Sunday, 27th September 2026.

The Early Bird Discount has ended, and nearly 2,000 entries have already been secured for the Windsor Half Marathon, while around 750 have signed up for the Windsor Women's 10K. Last year, some 4,394 runners competed in Windsor Great Park over the weekend. Hannah Maher, of City of Norwich AC, won the Windsor Women's 10K in 38:06. The Windsor Half Marathon victors were James McMurray (St Albans AC, 1:05:28) and Lesley Locks (Reading AC, 1:22:29).

To help you reach the start line in the best possible shape, there's an excellent Running Blog here, Training Plans for Windsor Half Marathon here, and Windsor Women's 10K here.

The Windsor Women's 10K and Windsor Half Marathon start and finish on the spectacular Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle, where both our photos were taken. Windsor Women’s 10K passes the Copper Horse statue, the Royal Lodge, and the Jubilee Statue before a downhill finish toward Windsor Castle.

Windsor Half Marathon is a more challenging run, with several undulations. The course takes runners further into the Royal Estate, with added sights such as the Royal Chapel, Royal School, Prince Consort Statue and Virginia Water, before arguably the most iconic road race finishing straight in the UK!

Runners return year after year to relive the unique vibe of these races. We spotted this online review by Danish runner Mette Duedahl Skou: “Thank you for the best run, all you did was fabulous. All such wonderfull people out there along the route, helpers, organizers…wow, such energy and enthusiasm you showed…music, dancing stories of, “no hills up, only downhill”…simply wonderful…and also fab that so many spectators just stayed out in the rain to cheer…a huge thank you to all of you from me, who came from Denmark to take part in my first long run ever. I will definitely be back next year."

W45 Mette kept her word and has entered again, after finishing 1,222nd in 2:51:29 last year. To join her, visit the Windsor Women's 10K website here, or the Windsor Half Marathon website here.

Results and reports are at the runABC South race listing here for the 10K and here for the half marathon.

Photos courtesy of the Windsor Running Festival