The Hampton Court Half Marathon took place on February 19th this year and was a tremendous success. The race is usually run over flat ground with a ‘visually interesting’ taking place on the border of the amazing Hampton Court Palace in the South West of London. However, further additions made to the track made the 2017 course the best one year. It is a professionally organised event and is officially measured run under UKA licence. One woman named Emma accounted her experience of the marathon in the Village Voice and what an enriching experience it was. Participants varied in age from runners in their late 30s to 40s. Many runners had various injuries and spectators were amazed by their dedication and determination. Emma participated in order to raise money for a rare disease called Chordoma and many friends and family ran alongside her including her neurosurgeon. Emma trained for the race for many hours and put in a lot of effort and determination.
Emma’s team raised a grand total of £19,000 which will all be donated to the research of Chordoma. Chordoma UK is a charity set up in 2007 and through recent funding have been able to employ two researchers at UCL who aim to understand the rare type of cancer and researching new possible treatments and cures. Great progress is being made as limited options are currently available including surgery and proton beam therapy. Emma’s Team, also known as team Chordoma ran the half marathon to raise money ‘in the hope that one day’ someone would not be told it was incurable.
The Half Marathon takes place on a wide scale and covers the distance from Kingston to Esher and back, the course borders Hampton Court Park and follows the Thames River. The 2017 run was an overall success.
The next race will take place on Sunday next year on the 18th of February.
