On a crisp spring morning in late March, the 2026 edition of the Kew The Run Half Marathon returned to the stunning surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew—a venue so scenic it almost distracts you from the fact you’ve willingly signed up to run 13.1 miles.
The course offered its usual promise: flat, fast, and deceptively gentle. Starting and finishing within Kew Gardens, runners were treated to a mix of smooth tarmac paths and a riverside stretch along the Thames towpath. It’s the kind of route that whispers “PB potential” early on… even if you lose some times on the loops and corners.
Clocking in at just over 21km with minimal elevation, it’s widely regarded as a quick course—ideal for chasing times, or at least chasing the person in front who definitely went off too fast.
Conditions on race day were about as good as British running gets: cool but not cold, bright skies, and none of the wind or drizzle that typically turns a half marathon into a character-building exercise. Temperatures hovered around a pleasant single-digit start, warming slightly as the race progressed—essentially perfect for running, less perfect for excuses.
Representing Grantham Running Club with distinction (and apparently solo attendance), Ross Warden took to the start line with a plan: start sensibly, hold pace, and avoid anything dramatic.
In true race-report fashion, things went “almost entirely to plan.” to combate his usually shocking inability to stick to pace, the decision to stick to a uncharacteristically quiet pacer was made.
Not bad for a Sunday morning that started suspiciously early thanks to both the race schedule and the clocks changing—arguably the real endurance test of the day.
Ross finished in a time of 1:39:40, trimming a couple of minutes off his previous personal best, and ducking under the 100 minute mark for the first time.