The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon (Royal Parks Half) has been shortlisted as a finalist in the “Participation Event of the Year” category in the BT Sport Industry Awards.
The nomination sees the Half Marathon pitted against other industry and nationally recognised mass participation events. Previous winners include Prudential Ride London and Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile 2012.
The event, organised by the Royal Parks Foundation in partnership with Limelight Sports, was created in 2008 as an annual fundraising opportunity for charities of all sizes including the Royal Parks Foundation. It has now raised over £25m for 631 charities and will see a further 381 charities take part in 2016. In eight years, the race has doubled in size from 8,000 to 16,000 runners and is now at course capacity. In 2011, the event organisers moved to a ballot system to allocate their public places due to the race being oversubscribed each year.
As one of the five largest running events in the UK, it is the only opportunity for runners to take part in a half marathon on closed roads through central London. The route, which changed last year for the first time in eight years, takes in the capital’s world-famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the Royal Albert Hall and four of London’s eight Royal Parks.
Head of Major Events at the Royal Parks Foundation, Sally Barney, said; “I am thrilled that the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon has been shortlisted for this important award. The event is hugely important as a fundraising event for all the charities that take part year on year and raises incredible amounts of money for very worthy causes. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to share London’s wonderful green spaces with the runners as they run through the Royal Parks.”
The Account Director at Limelight Sports, Gemma Marks, said: “We are very proud to have been shortlisted for this award. This recognition is a testament to our continued efforts to ensure that participants enjoy an incredible race day experience, raising funds for their favourite charities while running one of the country’s most scenic courses.”
The 2016 race will take place on Sunday 9 October 2016. To read more, please visit www.royalparkshalf.com
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
For more information about the Half Marathon please go: https://royalparkshalf.com/
You can follow the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon on Facebook and Twitter:www.facebook.com/royalparkshalf or https://twitter.com/royalparkshalf
For press enquiries or image requests, please contact Ania Szewczyk at Limelight Sports: ania.szewczyk@limelightsports.com or 0207 299 4165
EVENT ORGANISERS:
The Royal Parks Foundation is the charity that helps support the magic of London’s eight amazing Royal Parks. Established in 2003, the charity reaches out to make the Parks part of more people’s lives and raises funds for a wide variety of heritage, education, wellbeing and nature conservation programmes. The registered charity number is 1097545, for more information, please visit www.SupportTheRoyalParks.org.
About Limelight Sports
Limelight Sports, global leading mass participation sport engagement agency, has offices in London, UK; Melbourne, Australia and Dubai, UAE. Capitalising on the ever-increasing popularity of mass participation sporting events, the agency has created and delivered some of the most high profile, and most talked about sports participation experiences including the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile, Sky Ride and J.P.Morgan Corporate Challenge London and Sydney. It works with major global brands such as Nike, J.P.Morgan, Wiggle and Virgin Australia. Limelight Sports also organises Swimathon, the world’s biggest fundraising swimming challenge.
Additionally, the agency owns properties such as Race the World, the first fully supported round the world cycling race for amateurs and London Duathlon, the world’s largest duathlon.
Find out more at www.limelightsports.com