Roads around Hyde Park, St James’s Park and Westminster are closed this morning as up to 18,300 runners take part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon.
The Oysho Royal Parks Half Marathon returns today, Sunday 11 October 2026, with thousands of runners tackling the 13.1-mile course through four of London’s Royal Parks. The route takes in some of the capital’s most famous landmarks on closed roads, but the flip side for everyone else is a morning of significant disruption across central London.
According to the official road closures page on the event’s website, the restrictions in place today are:
- Roads within Hyde Park are closed from 00:01 on Sunday 11 October until 05:00 on Monday 12 October.
- Roads within St James’s Park are closed from 06:00 to 18:30 on Sunday.
- Roads within Westminster are closed from 07:00 to 12:30 on Sunday.
All of the closures have been agreed in advance with Westminster City Council and Transport for London. Drivers are advised to plan their journeys in advance and allow extra time, while emergency vehicle access is being maintained across the route at all times.
Although the roads through the parks are shut, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens themselves remain open to the public as usual throughout the weekend — though visitors may be directed to different gates to get in on Sunday.
Cycle routes suspended across the parks
Cyclists are affected too, with a rolling programme of cycle path suspensions in place across the weekend.
Cycleway 3 on South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park was suspended from 09:00 on Friday, with cyclists diverted via Rotten Row between West Carriage Drive and Hyde Park Corner.
Yesterday, the suspensions widened: Cycleway 3 on South Carriage Drive and the cycle paths on Serpentine Road, The Broadwalk and Rotten Row were all suspended in Hyde Park, while cycling access to Albert Approach Road was suspended in Kensington Gardens.
Today, every cycle path in Hyde Park is suspended, along with all cycle paths in Kensington Gardens — where accessible parking bays are also out of use — and Cycleway 3 through The Green Park and St James’s Park.
Saturday also saw the RBC Race for the Kids, a 2km and 5km family fun run held entirely within Hyde Park, with its start on the closed section of South Carriage Drive.
Tube and DLR engineering works add to the disruption
Public transport is not running as normal either. Planned engineering works mean part closures on the Circle and District lines and the DLR all weekend, according to Transport for London’s official status information.
The Circle line has no service between Edgware Road and Aldgate (via Victoria) on both Saturday and Sunday — a closure that cuts right through the middle of the race area.
The District line has no service between Edgware Road/Tower Hill and Ealing Broadway, Kensington (Olympia), Richmond and Wimbledon. Passengers heading towards Richmond can use Mildmay line services between Gunnersbury, Kew Gardens and Richmond instead, and replacement buses are running on services DL1, DL3 (early morning only), DL4 and DL5.
The DLR has no service between Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal across the weekend. Unlike the Tube works, no replacement buses are operating — passengers are told to use local buses, the Underground and Elizabeth line services, including for Woolwich. The DLR has been in the spotlight recently, with major plans to extend the network towards Thamesmead taking a step forward.
Weekend engineering works are nothing new for Londoners — the Tube was badly delayed by a fire alert earlier this month — but the combination of rail works and mass road closures makes today a particularly difficult day to move around central London.
London keeps running
The capital’s appetite for mass participation running shows no sign of slowing: last month 12,000 runners took part in the first-ever Saucony Run Shoreditch Half, and today’s field of up to 18,300 will be raising money for good causes across the Royal Parks course.
Travel advice for Sunday
If you are heading into central London today, the message from organisers and TfL is simple: plan ahead and allow plenty of extra time.
For drivers, the morning is the worst of it — Westminster’s roads reopen by 12:30 — but St James’s Park stays shut until 18:30 and Hyde Park’s roads do not reopen until 05:00 on Monday morning. Even after barriers start coming down, expect congestion as crowds disperse.
Tube stations near the route, including Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Green Park, St James’s Park, Westminster and Victoria, are likely to be far busier than on a normal Sunday. With the Circle and District lines part-closed, consider whether you can walk the final stretch rather than squeezing onto a packed train.
Cycling through the parks is not an option today, with every cycle path in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens suspended — so regular riders should plan an alternative route.
Spectators hoping to cheer on the runners should use public transport where possible, keep clear of the closed roads, and follow the signs to whichever park gates are open — they may not be the entrances you would normally use.
Full details of the closures are published on the official Royal Parks Half Marathon road closures page.
