Unique event with visual and audio cues from the Royal Parks Half course

Special premium medal and events bag

Guaranteed entry to a future Royal Parks Half if fundraising over £175 for charity

Opportunity to support local and national charities running your event in your way

The Royal Parks Half Marathon, presented by Royal Bank of Canada, today unveiled a never-before-seen digital event experience for the upcoming race day. For this year only, The Royal Parks Half is coming to you on Sunday 11 April 2021.

Runners can be part of this ground-breaking day by finding a cause and running the race distance in their local area, in support of The Royal Parks charity and hundreds of other UK charities. This unique digital experience will celebrate green spaces the length and breadth of the country, with runners coming together to provide critical fundraising for the UK’s charities and to #RunGreen without limits.

Working with a customised app, the Royal Parks Half will provide runners with as much of a race day experience as possible using digital integrations. Through the app, runners will experience the atmosphere of race day through custom audio cues and augmented reality that will bring the iconic race course to life as they run in their local area.

Charity runners who take part in the April race and meet or exceed a fundraising target of £175 for their chosen charity will be guaranteed a place in October 2021 or 2022 at the standard ballot fee of £59.

All runners will be sent a premium race pack prior to race day with their race bib, sustainable water bottle, courtesy of RBC, and medal. After you complete the race and submit your time through the app, your finisher shirt that commemorates this unique year will be sent to you. To recreate the event day experience, race morning will incorporate an online warm-up and messages of support from notable faces before the race officially gets underway at 9am on Sunday 11 April. Runners are encouraged to find open space and connect with nature, all whilst following the latest government guidance on social distancing.

There will be an interactive leader board during the race, and upon completing the Half Marathon runners will have their times registered on the Royal Parks Half app. The standard winner categories will be awarded as usual, in addition to a new non-binary field.

Project Lead at The Royal Parks, Persephone Deacon-Cole, commented: “Supporting charities in need during this time is more important than ever before. The Royal Parks Half was created in 2008 to raise sustainable funds for The Royal Parks and enable charities of all sizes to be involved in a major challenge event.

“The impact of Covid on the mass participation sports industry has had significant repercussions for ourselves and our charity partners. We hope this one-of-a-kind digital experience will excite runners across the nation and encourage them to support the charity of their choice.”

Dave Thomas, CEO, RBC Europe commented: “Royal Bank of Canada is committed to helping our communities prosper and are delighted to once again be Presenting Partner of the Royal Parks Half. While this year will be a little different, the Royal Parks team have put together a unique opportunity for participants to enjoy the atmosphere of this event through a virtual experience. We understand the importance of keeping active to support physical and mental wellbeing, particularly at this time, and the Royal Parks Half offers a great way for people to keep fit while also generating much needed funds for some of London’s green spaces and the hundreds of other vital charities involved.”

About The Royal Parks

The Royal Parks is the charity that exists to make sure London’s eight historic royal parks will always be there to enrich the lives of local residents and visitors to London.

The charity looks after eight of London’s largest open spaces: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St James’s Park, The Green Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park. It also manages other important open spaces in the capital, including Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens.

For more information visit www.royalparks.org.uk or follow The Royal Parks on Twitter @theroyalparks, Facebook.com/TheRoyalParksLondon and Instagram.com/TheRoyalParks

About Limelight Sports

Limelight Sports is a leading sports marketing agency specialising in participation. It has worked with major, global brands such as Royal Bank of Canada, Tesco, Nike, Fitbit and J.P.Morgan, using its unique understanding of sport and activity to engage their audiences through active experiences. It also runs major mass participation events – the London Triathlon, Blenheim Palace Triathlon, London Duathlon and Etape Caledonia. Limelight Sports has created and delivered some of the most successful live experiences including Royal Parks Half Marathon, the FA People’s Cup, Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile, Sky Ride, J.P.Morgan Corporate Challenge London and Sydney, and Swimathon, the world’s biggest fundraising swimming challenge. With over 25 years’ experience of creating campaigns, Limelight Sports is the agency of the Active World.

About Royal Bank of Canada – Presenting Partner

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 86,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the US, the UK and 33 other countries. Learn more at www.rbc.com/europe