On 13th September 2026 I celebrated my birthday. But first, I woke up early to travel to Kew Gardens, to pace the Richmond Run-Fest Marathon. This was my 15th marathon of 2026, 193rd marathon (plus), 142nd time as a pacer (79 marathons).
Richmond is relatively local for me, and I love running with this organisation, especially starting in Kew Gardens. I arrived at 07:00 for a 08:00 marathon start. This gave me plenty of time to meet fellow Xempo Racepacing pacers at the start, then go to the toilet before the queues got long.
I had a little walk around Kew Gardens before heading back to the start pens for 07:40. Pacers were asked to make our way to the pens for this time, to help runners find their place. It was pretty decent running conditions. A little drizzle and muggy, but kept the heat down, which raised a little towards the end.
As my group started to form it was nice to have a lot of runners come and say hello, many who have ran with me before. I also had a runner who stuck with me when I paced 4:30 at Richmond Run-Fest 2025. I had lots of first time marathoners in my group, and it made for a perfect start.
The first 6 miles is entirely in Kew Gardens, and it really is beautiful. If you love nature, this would be one of your favourite places to run. In fact, the 10k on the Saturday would be perfect. You can see from the above picture that it isnt wide, but it is plenty. The start is managed by waves so there isn’t congestion.
As we leave Kew Gardens we head down the towpath path past Hampton Court and end in Kingston. There are long narrow stretches, and some points with little crowding with pedestrians, but nothing that impacted the run. There was also one section that was very slippery because of mud on the pavement, but this was being announced by marshalls so we could all slow down.
I had a good group with me throughout most of the race, towards the end, some pulling ahead and others falling back a little. For the last 5 miles we merged with the half marathon so it got a little busier again, and the finish was in Old Deer Park, which was a nice festival vibe and full of spectators.
I managed to keep a nice steady pace throughout, and achieved my sub 4:15 target with a 4:14:30. As always we received a lovely medal which if you have a few, you know they create a circle if all placed together.
A great way to start my birthday.