Waltham Forest Half Marathon: Route Preview

The Waltham Forest Half Marathon is run on the same day as a 10k race, which shares part of the same course. Cutting through the suburbs of Chingford and entirely on pavements and roads, the race passes a number of landmarks and edges along an area of London parkland.

The course is relatively flat, with the first few miles either covering a gentle downhill or flat ground. However, come the 8-mile mark there is a two mile gentle climb of around 200 feet – enough to sap energy and make the tail-end of the race feel tougher than would otherwise be the case. Once past the 11-mile mark, though, it’s plain sailing on flat ground.

The route of the Waltham Forest Half Marathon - flat-ish, urban and passing some interesting sights

In principle, this should be a relatively fast course. It’s not pancake-flat, but it’s flat enough to build a decent momentum and none of the hills appear so steep they will take the momentum out of your legs. However, there are a number of road crossings to contend with, which always carry the potential to add dead time into your splits.

With chip timing and regular water stations, though, it’s not unreasonable to expect that the marshals will take care of the worst of the traffic. With just a few weeks remaining until the Virgin London Marathon, this should be a well-timed tune-up race.