London Landmarks Half Marathon: A SheRACES case study
- SheRACES
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
The London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM), organised by Tommy’s, is one of the largest half marathons in the UK, attracting ~20,000 participants in 2025, with females consistency making up at least 60% of the runners since the event's inception. It’s also 100% non-profit, raising a staggering £16 million for Tommy’s and its 700+ charity partners in 2025. To date, since the inaugural event in 2018 the LLHM has raised over £70 million for the charity sector. Taking place on a closed-road course in central London, there are a lot of logistical challenges to putting on an event on this massive scale, but charity and inclusivity are at its heart.
LLHM became a SheRACES Accredited Event in November 2024 (see the announcement here) because of its commitment to female runners. It has a number of policies and initiatives that are meaningfully enabling more women to their start line. The event stands as an example of how the SheRACES race guidelines can be scaled up and applied to mass road running events – proving that any large race organiser is capable of making changes that positively impact women. With 83% more ballot registrations for the 2025 event over the 2024 event, it's clear there’s huge demand for races that offer a great race-day experience for everyone. Being inclusive to women, and considering an event through a female lens, leads to a race that is better for everyone, of any gender.
How LLHM is supporting female runners
One of the flagship campaigns for SheRACES is around pregnancy deferral policies. Our guidelines state that a ballot race should allow women who become pregnant to defer their place for up to two years, at no additional cost.
LLHM has extended deferral policies that go above and beyond. Being owned and organised by pregnancy and baby loss charity Tommy’s, it’s important to them that they have very robust policies in place to support everyone in their pregnancy journeys. Their policy states participants who are pregnancy can have a refund, transfer or deferral of the place for up to two years. Additionally, for participants whose partner is pregnant and whose due date is within one month prior to or two months post-event date, LLHM offers a deferral to the following year’s event. For participants adopting or going through surrogacy within three months prior to the event date, LLHM offers a deferral to the following year’s event. This detailed policy gives pregnant women the chance to fully recover post-partum and not lose a place at the event, while also recognising the important role of partners – benefitting all participants.
Women are also considered in other ways. LLHM’s Breastfeeding Policy, introduced in 2024, enables women to get in touch prior to the event to say that they will be breastfeeding on the day. LLHM can offer flexibility on their start wave and time to accommodate the most convenient feeding/pumping times. There is also a Family Hub close to the start and finish line for anyone who needs to feed or change their child.
Working in partnership with Beauty Banks, a charity that exists to end hygiene poverty in the UK, there are Refresh stations along the route, as well as at the start and finish, providing free period products and other useful personal care items, such as hair ties and tissues.
LLHM are also proudly proactive at empowering more women to come to the start line, working with grassroots community running clubs, especially those that support female runners, such as Black Girls Do Run, Fly Girl Collective and ASRA Run Club. Not only that, they work with Coopah (their Official Training Partner) to offer female-specific training advice; Coopah worked with Tommy’s midwives to write informative articles on running through pregnancy and returning to running post-partum.
Impact of female-forward initiatives
LLHM has always had a strong female field. It wasn’t something they set out to achieve, but LLHM race director Lia Fyles believes there are three core reasons why more women are attracted to this event:
"First, LLHM is a race organised by a charity for charity and so naturally the majority of our places are charity places. We know that women, on average, are more likely to support charity. So, for example, Tommy’s had a team of around 2100 runners in the 2025 race and 65% of their team is female."
"Second, we’ve tried really hard to make sure the LLHM is a race that feels welcoming and inclusive for everyone. Our race is all about enjoying the day, seeing the best of London and its communities, and having fun – this isn’t a competitive race and we don’t have an elite field. We celebrate everyone from the first runner to the last, which is why we ensure our route activities and charity cheer stations stay in place until the last runner has passed so no participant feels left out. Many other events position themselves around the known athletes taking part. When you think about who the faces of the LLHM are, it’s not the athletes, but the fundraisers and those taking on a huge challenge for amazing causes and their stories."
"Third, as Tommy’s is the owner and organiser of the event, it was imperative to us that we had inclusive policies in place that would best support women and birthing people both pre- and post-partum. This is why we have the deferral policies in place that we have, as well as our breastfeeding policy. It was really special to us that for LLHM 2025 we were able to offer a Family Hub at the event, which women and birthing people could use as a feeding and changing facility."
Having a female race director – and in particular someone who has been working for Tommy’s since 2008 – creating an inclusive event is something that comes naturally. Lia says that it’s very important to her personally, and her team, to put on an event every year that is as accessible and inclusive as possible. She also encourages other race organisers to implement inclusive policies:
“We would encourage as many events as possible to consider the policies and processes that can be put in place to encourage as many women to enter as possible. None of the policies we have in place have caused us great stress or hardship to implement, and it only felt a natural process for us to offer what we do. We are very lucky that as part of Tommy’s we can collaborate with other teams across the charity to ensure we have an enhanced offering – for example, our policies relating to pregnancy deferrals have been reviewed and worked on with our Tommy’s midwives.”
This is a message that we want to drive home at SheRACES – putting in place our basic race guidelines is not a difficult or costly process, but it makes all the difference to creating a start line and race experience that women from all backgrounds and of all abilities can access.
LLHM has had a high percentage of female runners since its inception, with women making up 61% of the field at the 2025 event. Katie Jones, Head of Partnerships and Event Development, explains what’s important when it comes to developing this inclusive event, saying that what they do builds into the implemented policies for pregnant women, breastfeeding, the Family Hub, period products and training advice. She says:
"Wording and marketing – showing runners of all backgrounds and abilities in our images; showing it’s accessible for a first-time runner to take part; explaining the different routes to get a place, ie ballot or charity. We are friendly and warm in our brand, hopefully removing barriers so signing up doesn’t feel intimidating."
"Our focus on charity and supporting a charity, running in memory or for a special cause, reinforces the message that the event is for everyone. It perhaps removes the intimidating nature of feeling like the event is super competitive or elite. We reinforce this with our provision of pacers covering a range of times, tailwalkers and celebrating our last runner with a classic mini escort and procession. It doesn’t matter what time someone completes the LLHM; it is all about taking part. Every participant is celebrated."
"We also provide a lot of information on our website and race day guide, to help guide people if this is their first race or half marathon."
"We showcased our partnership with SheRACES in our comms, and also our provisions for female runners are communicated to our participants ahead of race day."
It’s inspiring and encouraging to hear such passion from the team about making these events truly inclusive. Considering the different needs of women makes a race better for everyone.
Post-event feedback
Of course, it’s what the participants think that really matters; and the post-event feedback has highlighted the importance of being inclusive. Here is just a small sample of the positive experiences of women on race day.
“This is honestly one of the most incredible, inclusive things I’ve been a part of! It was amazing to see every single person celebrated, regardless of who they are, the speed they were running, their age – anything really!! And I’m not just talking on the day; even before the event, there was such a wonderful vibe from the second you sign up. As a female runner, it was great to see sanitary products being given out at the toilets – one less thing for us to worry about!”
– Naomi Lowe, a female runner with fibromyalgia, which makes training tough, who wants to show others what can be achieved
“I loved seeing a close split of genders, as road races have generally been predominantly men and the race was inclusive to many paces. Having a disability wave first was so much fun, and also made guide running a lot easier and more accessible. Guide running in crowds can be very challenging, so this made the race an even more positive experience having the head start.”
– Beth Dennis, a guide runner for a visually impaired participant
“London Landmarks is the first race I’ve ever participated in, and it was one of the best experiences I could have had. Everyone I encountered was so friendly and supportive, especially the complete strangers cheering me on… I would really recommend this race to anyone, especially those who feel they’re not good enough, because it honestly felt like we were all part of one big family on the day where no one was judged on their athletic ability at all.”
– Shannon McNally, running in memory of her parents and raising money for Tommy’s
“Inclusivity was prevalent both on and off the course; I certainly felt that all communities were catered for, whether they were wheelchair uses, the charities, the fun runners in fancy dress costumes, and even the celebrities and serious runners were all mingling around and chatting together at the start – there was certainly no division. Being part of an event like LLHM totally breaks down barriers and is a complete leveller, no matter what your ability, ethnicity or gender or reason for running… The information beforehand was clear and very detailed. The finish area was ideal keeping you walking to collect your medal, t-shirt, water etc, then on to meet your friends and family. All the volunteers were helpful, friendly and all together doing an amazing job.”
– Ceri Hooper, mum and support runner for Lloyd Hooper, who was the first person with Down’s Syndrome to complete a marathon
With such a high female participation rate and the incredibly positive feedback, LLHM stands out as a race that’s doing it right, and other large race organisers, especially in the mass road running sphere, could learn a lot from them on how to organise an inclusive event.
SheRACES works with race organisers to advise and engage on issues around female participation and pregnancy policies; get in touch with us on hello@sheraces.com to find out more about how we can help your event. If you already have inclusive policies in place, like LLHM, consider applying to become SheRACES Accredited (see link below) to highlight your commitment to levelling the start line for women.
Register for the 2026 LLHM ballot:
Key SheRACES links:
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