Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon for more than 500 UK charities. The route starts and ends in Hyde Park and travels through and past many of central London's famous landmarks on closed roads. It also takes in four of the eight Royal Parks in London, namely Hyde Park, The Green Park, St. James's Park and Kensington Gardens. Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, first held in 2008, takes place each October, starting and finishing in Hyde Park. It is the only Half-Marathon that travels through central London and is one of London's largest half-marathons with over 16,000 participants. The Royal
Parks and open spaces in London including 3,000 parks and totaling 35,000 acres. The centrepieces of Greater London's park system are the eight Royal Parks of London. Covering 1976 hectares (4,882 acres), they are former royal hunting grounds which are now open to the public. Many of the smaller green spaces in central London are garden squares, which were built for the private use of the residents of the fashionable districts, but in some cases are now open to the public. Notable examples open to the public are Russell Square in Bloomsbury, Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn and Soho Square in Soho. The Royal Borough of