About 250 runners turned out on the cloudy Sunday of October 11, 2009 to help raise money for Get Kids Going!


In total, 15,000 runners participated in the race. Before the run, there was nervous excitement in the air. Runners anxiously put on their Get Kids Going! team t-shirts and got their numbers pinned on. Everyone was talked about how nervous they were, and about their hopes of finishing with a good race time. The group warm up finished around 8:30am, and left runners on their own to stretch and get pep talks from friends and family. Some runners took the race lightly and wore silly costumes to show their support for their teams while other people just decided to wear team gear. Everyone was rounded up into one of four pens by 9:25am because the race started promptly at 9:30am. Runners either talked amongst themselves or got in the zone by listening to music. After a few quick words by a member of the Royal Parks Foundation, the gun was shot and everyone was starting across the line. It took about 15 minutes to get all the runners through the start.


Palo Sandali won the race with an excellent time of 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 30 seconds. The fastest Get Kids Going! team runner was Charles Sherwood with a time of 1 hour, 28 minutes, and 2 seconds. After the race, Get Kids Going! runners came to the charity tent for some free orange juice and Mars bars complements of the charity. Everyone was happy and relieved to have finished the run without any injuries, and many runners were excited by their finishing times.

Overall the Royal Parks Foundation London Half Marathon was hugely successful, and hopes to raise £40,000 for all the children who need sports wheelchairs. The Get Kids Going! Team hopes to have another successful run next year! And we hope to see some repeated faces at our next events, The Bupa Great South Run on Sunday October 25th 2009, and at the New York Marathon on Sunday November 1st 2009!

Congratulations everyone!

(pictured is our fastest Get Kids Going! runner Charles Sherwood)