Magna Carta Frequently Asked Questions
The registration for the marathon, half marathon and 10km will be hosted at the Wraysbury Skiff & Punting Club HQ,Riverside, Egham, TW20 0AA.
The start times for the Magna Carta events will be:
Marathon starts 8.30am.
Half Marathon starts 9.00am.
10KM starts 9.00am.
We always have a 5 min mandatory pre-race briefing at the start, just to talk though course conditions. Race health and safety is vitally important to us too, so we will also brief you as to what you need to do if you’re not feeling well. We want you to enjoy the race in every way so it’s mandatory that you attend this briefing!
The registration will be at the Wraysbury Skiff & Punting Club Race HQ and it will be open from 7.30am. We would suggest that you were here with plenty of time to spare in order to get changed and get your baggage secured in the Wraysbury Skiff Club. On the bottom of your Tyvek race bib you will find a tear off baggage labels, so please ensure that these are tagged with your race bib number and attached to your bag when you hand your baggage to the baggage marshal. You will also be given a Race tag for the chip timing that you will need to attach to your shoe before you start.
We don’t accept liability for any loss of personal possessions left at the HQ but there will be someone in charge of the baggage. There is a also ANPR paid on-site car park at the Runnymede Pleasure Grounds, this costs £7.50 for all day parking and it is a short walk to Race HQ for your use. There will be plenty of car parking spaces available for all runners and spectators.
The Marathon, Half and 10Km races will all start / finish on the Thames Path trail right next to Wraysbury Skiff & Punting Club Race HQ.
Marathon route starts at 8.30am it will be x5 -5.27 mile sections, to Old Windsor Lock (turnaround point) and back to the start at the Wraysbury Skiff Club HQ. Distance for the marathon will be 26.35 miles (allowing for variances in GPS devices).
Half Marathon route starts at 9.00am will be x2 -1.3 mile out / back loops towards Staines Bridge (turnaround point by Runnymede Hotel) followed by 2 out / back 5.27 mile sections turning around at the Old Windsor Lock then back to the start at the Wraysbury Skiff Club HQ. Distance for the half marathon will be 13.14 miles (allowing for variances in GPS devices).
10Km route starts at 9.00am will be x1 -1.0 mile out / back loop towards towards Staines Bridge (turnaround point by Runnymede Hotel) followed by x1 out / back 5.27 mile section to Old Windsor Lock (turnaround point) and back to the start at the Wraysbury Skiff Club HQ. Distance for the 10km will be 6.27 miles, 10.09 kms (allowing for variances in GPS devices).
The turnaround points for the Marathon, Half and 10Km will be fully marked and marshalled.
The Check Points at the CP1 Start / Finish and CP2 Old Windsor Lock will be very well stocked with a selection energy drink and food.
There will be showers and changing facilities inside the Wraysbury Skiff Club for the Male / Female runners to change in.
The toilets will also be located inside Wraysbury Skiff & Punting Club HQ very close to the Thames Path for all runners to use.
The course is really flat / fast and is run along the Thames Path out / back sections. As this is a national trail we would ask all runners to show courtesy to all other users of the trail as there will be a number of walkers and cyclists using this trail.The conditions are weather dependant and if it rains the Thames Path trail can get muddy on certain stretches of the trail but I would personally recommend using road shoes. At the turnaround point check point at the Old Windsor Lock, full please move out of the way of your fellow runners if you stop to re-fuel to avoid congestion.
- Check Point 1 Start / Finish Wraysbury Skiff & Punting Club HQ.
- Check Point 2 Old Windsor Lock.
*Marshals will also be at the the turnaround points and the course will be well marked and marshalled.
The 2 check points on course at the Start / Finish and at the Old Windsor Lock these will have a selection of food / drinks including High 5 Electrolyte drinks, pretzels, jelly babies, crisps, fruit cordial and water at the Start / Finish and at Old Windsor Lock turnaround point.
There will be plastic pop-up bins provided at the 2 check points for your water cups / gel sachets to be discarded. We would urge you not to discard any litter on the Thames Path trail please as this is a national trail. The marshals will take any litter from you too, so please just use the bins provided at the 2 check points.
We will be using the Sports Systems Chip Timing which will mean that access to provisional results will be available straight after the race and all times will be based on mat times. There will be a race chip timing mat at the Start /Finish and all race participants will be required to cross this mat at the Start / Finish after each lap in order to have their respective chip times correctly recorded. The Sports Systems RFID Race Bibs will be handed out at race registration to all our participating runners.We would also encourage participants to record their own times too using their smartphones or GPS watches
If you are feeling unwell and need to retire from the race please initially contact me, my mobile number will be printed on the front of your race bibs. You can also inform a marshal or a KLP Medical first aider and they will pass on the message to me. Please on no account leave the course without informing me of your whereabouts as your safety is my main priority. I also urge all runners to complete their emergency contact information and any medical details at the back of the race bibs.
There is an on-line advance entry limit of 400 runners inclusive for the 10km, half and marathon distances, although I will be accepting entries on the day.
We would encourage all runners to bring a 500ml water bottle, this can then be re-filled at the check points or a hydration pack. There will be amble supplies at the 2 check points at the Start / Finish and Old Windsor Lock turnaround point for all our runners.
Yes there is an allocated car parking facility is located at the Runnymede Pleasure Grounds, Windsor Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0AE this will be available for all runners taking part and any spectators that want to support their runners too. The ANPR car parking facility is a paid parking facility which costs £7.50 for all day car parking, there are 352 parking spaces available so plenty for spectators to use too.
There are frequent trains running form London to Staines and to Old Windsor Train Station, from either of these stations it’s a short walk to the Race HQ at the Wraysbury Skiff Club. There will be paid car parking facilities at the Runnymede Pleasure Grounds too for all participating runners.
A Gore-Tex or rain jacket is recommended if it’s raining, including a beanie and gloves, alternatively if it’s a sunny day bring a cap and sunglasses. As this is a flat and easy course to run I would recommend road shoes. I would recommend checking the projected weather forecast on Accuweather in advance of the event.
- Unique Magna Carta bespoke medals (treaty of Magna Carta).
- Winners’ slate awards for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Male / Female runners for each event.
- Sports Systems provisional results directly after each runner has completed the event.
- Gareth Parker Photographs on sale within 24 hours of the race staging at £10 per photo.
- Well stocked Check Points at the Start / Finish and Old Windsor Lock.
- KLP Medical Supplies, professional medical first aid support throughout the race.
Our Chip Timing will be professionally done by Sports Systems Chip Timing and your RFID race bib will be handed out to you at registration on race day. You will also be emailed a few days prior to the event staging with your allocated race bib number so that you can bring this with you to the race registration on the day. The provisional results will be made available directly after you have completed your event via uploaded links on my home page, and these will be subject to vetting before they are finalised.
Winners’ Magna Carta slate awards will be awarded to the Male / Female 1st, 2nd & 3rd for each of the three race distances and these will be handed out straight after the podium runners have completed their respective races.
We will have a professional team of medics from KLP Medical Supplies who will be providing professional medical support on race day. Your safety is of paramount importance to us and if you’re feeling unwell prior to or on race day we would strongly urge you not to run. If you have to retire from the race due to feeling unwell please ensure that you notify a medic, marshal or one of us so that we can account for you. My contact mobile number will be clearly displayed on the front of your race bibs too.
Yes we work closely with High 5 they sponsor my events and provide much needed energy electrolytes which will be on the course, we strongly recommend you using these as they are there for a specific reason and that is to balance the electrolytes lost when sweating, restore glycogen, enabling you to have more fuel in the tank. We would also encourage you to pay particular attention to little and often, especially if it’s a hot day which will mean that your sweat rate increases. Remember that as little as a 2% drop in body weight (caused by excessive sweating) can lead to a 20% drop off in performance. The responsibility for your fuelling needs lies solely with you, although our check points will be well stocked to ensure your needs are sufficiently catered for during the race.
We allow the use of music players for this event, but please be mindful of other trail users and your fellow runners that might want to pass you. We would urge all runners to use the Aftershokz over ear bone conduction ear phones so you can hear our marshals and other runners trying to pass you, when running your race.
The race is fully ARC (Association of Running Clubs) and UKA (UK Athletics) permit certified, fully chip timed and is this respect we have all the necessary indemnifications in place required for these to be officially recognised events. The marathon can be used for Good For Age (GFA) qualification for the Comrades Ultra Marathon (South Africa).
Magna Carta Time Limits
Marathon time limit is 6.5hrs.
Half Marathon time limit is 6hrs.
10Km time limit is 2hrs.
These time limits will be adhered too so please be aware of these, as we have a duty of care to our marshals, timing support staff and the medics too that will only be in attendance for the duration of the longest event which is marathon being a 6.5hrs time limit.
To adhere to UKA and ARC licensing requirements there is a minimum age that runners need to be to participate in race meetings.
The minimum age for the marathon is 18 years old, for the half marathon 17 years old and for the 10km the minimum age is 16 years old.
We operate a no refunds policy as initially stated at the point of entry. We do however reserve the right to offer future switches or deferrals if the event cannot take place for reasons out of the control of race management including but not limited to flooding, severe weather or denial of access to the original course. Race management also reserve the right to postpone the event until a later date and all entries will be carried forward to this date and refunds may not be offered under these circumstances. Event cancellation due to reasons such as Coronavirus (COVID 19) or other such pandemic, public health, local authority travel and movement restrictions and bans of any kind etc. are beyond our control and no refund will be given in such circumstances.
We have set permit limits for all our events and extensive upfront fees to stage our races, however I do offer switches to any other events in the same year. The cost of the switching fee will be a standard £10 per runner. You will need to email me at info@hermesrunning.com to initiate this.