London Royal Parks Challenge

Why book with Charity Challenge?

• We are a multi-award winning challenge events specialist with over two decades of professional experience organising and leading challenges worldwide 
• High quality route design that incorporates major landmarks and undiscovered highlights
• Fully supported walking challenge. Checkpoints, walking leaders and support vehicle.
• The very best leaders, who are fully qualified, highly experienced, knowledgeable and fun. They will do everything to help you complete the challenge and have a great time doing it
• Thorough safety management systems in place (Challenge Safe)
• Celebration drink & medal at the finish
• The very highest quality London Royal Parks Challenge on the market!

Level of difficulty

The London Royal Parks Challenge is graded as tough. This is the perfect challenge for participants who are of an adventurous spirit and an open mind, who have taken part in other trekking challenges and now wish to test themselves in a slightly more extreme environment. You can tell your supporters that on your London Royal Parks Challenge you will be:
•    Covering a marathon distance of 42km.
•    Taking on varied terrain, from footpaths to urban roads.
•    Walking between 10-12 hours

How do we follow the route?

You will be accompanied by our fully qualified challenge leaders at all times. These leaders will navigate the route so you can conserve all of your energy for completing the challenge.

Getting to and from the challenge

The registration point for this challenge will be at the entrance to Bushy Park. This is very near to Kingston Upon Thames train station. You will need to aim to be at this start point for 6.30am.

The challenge finishes in Greenwich Park. We aim to complete this challenge by 5-6pm. There are lots of transport options to get you from Greenwich back into central London.

Please note: We will send you precise instructions about how to get to the registration point, and the timings of the event, one month prior to the challenge. We reserve the right to use alternative registration points and finishing points when necessary.

Challenge timings

You will need to be at the registration point at 6.30am on the morning of the challenge. The trek will begin at 7am. The total time to complete this challenge should be between 10-12 hours. We will aim to have everyone finished by 5-6pm.

Please note: Whilst we shall do all we can to stick to this finish time, please make sure you book flexible return tickets as delays can happen and we cannot guarantee a precise finishing time or be held responsible for any missed transport.

Terrain

The terrain on the London Royal Parks Challenge is a mixture of footpaths and pavements. There are sections of the footpaths along the river and the Regent’s canal that can be muddy.

Accommodation

No accommodation is provided for this challenge. Both Kingston Upon Thames and Greenwich have a wide variety of accommodation options available.

Toilets

There will be several points throughout the day when public toilets will be available. Your leaders will make you aware of when these toilet stops will take place.

Food and drink

The following meals are included in the cost of this challenge:

• Teas and coffees and a breakfast ’snack’ (fruit and pastry) will be available at registration (Please ensure you have had a more substantial breakfast before arriving.)
• A packed lunch will be available to you during the day.
• At each checkpoint (approx every 2 hours) there will be water and checkpoint snacks available.

We would advise that everyone also bring some of their own snacks to keep them going during the day.

Weather

This is a UK challenge so please come prepared for all types of weather! There is a very good chance that you may experience all four seasons in one day! Whilst we would encourage everyone to check the weather forecast before travelling, we would remind everyone to make sure you always carry with you a warm top and waterproofs during the challenge.

Leadership

All of our challenge leaders hold walking and first aid qualifications. They are extremely experienced, and many of them have worked overseas with Charity Challenge. All of our leaders are there to ensure that everyone has the best opportunity to complete the challenge. They are there primarily for your safety so please respect any decisions they make during the course of your challenge.

How is the group managed?

All Charity Challenge events are led by fully qualified walking leaders and operated as a team challenge. We encourage all participants to work together to complete the challenge. We believe that your experience is always enhanced by taking time to talk to your fellow challenger’s and learn about their inspiring stories. Our challenges are not designed as a race, and the route will not be marked with arrows for you to follow.

Group size

You will be joining a group of between 10 and 50 likeminded challenge participants.

Clothing and equipment

Equipment of good quality and durability could make the difference between a fantastic challenge experience and an uncomfortable one. For this challenge, waterproof and well-worn in boots or walking shoes will be indispensable. The terrain is uneven and can be very rough, so it is vital that you use boots or walking shoes with good grip. Sports trainers are not suitable. A full kit list for this challenge can be found here

Once you book you will have access to kit discounts with our partners OutdoorHire and Cotswold Outdoor

Training

The London Royal Parks Challenge is a long, sustained event of up to 10 hours and covering varied terrain. Therefore, it requires a good level of fitness. The ideal training for this challenge is, naturally, walking along similar terrain. However, if you do not have the luxury of living near the great outdoors, then the gym or walking in your local area are good places to start.

Most training should be part of an ongoing lifestyle, but if this is not the case then you should begin training 4-6 months prior to the challenge and gradually build up. Remember to use the clothes, equipment and especially the shoes that you will be wearing on the challenge in order to get them worn in. The more you exercise before the challenge, the more you will get out of it. Also see your Charity Challenge Fitness Training notes.

Safety

Charity Challenge considers the safety of all of our participants and staff to be a top priority, and as such we have set up Challenge Safe, one of the most advanced and thorough safety management systems in the industry. Challenge Safe formalises our ethos when it comes to safety, and brings together the procedures and risk management strategies that we use to audit all aspects of our challenges, from vehicles to accommodation to the challenge activity itself. Your welfare is absolutely paramount!

Here are a couple of important points that you should be aware of:

• Don’t underestimate the difficulty of an urban challenge. 42km and 250m is a tough and challenging distance
• Walking a marathon distance means you will be walking for approximately 10-12 hours so you should ensure your training has been tailored towards this
• Despite this being an urban challenge you should still make sure that you have all appropriate clothing and kit

Insurance

We don’t offer insurance for our UK trips, as any medical emergencies would naturally be covered through the NHS. Therefore, the main thing that you will not be covered for is cancellation. You can see our cancellation policy within our terms and conditions here. If you wish, you could look into your own policy that covers cancellation for travel within the UK.

Responsible Tourism

Charity Challenge believes that all of it’s challenges, whether in the UK or overseas, should have a positive impact on the communities we visit. 
In the UK we would encourage all participants to consider booking an additional nights accommodation in the area they are visiting so that they can fully enjoy their challenge experience. Many of our challenges are set in beautiful areas of the UK so why not turn your challenge into a weekend away and go out for a celebration meal in a local pub or restaurant.

For more details about our responsible tourism policy then please click here.

Emergencies

Your leading team are trained to deal with emergency situations in remote areas and will be carrying a mobile phone and radios in case the emergency services need to be contacted. The event is not run as a race and you will never be encouraged to walk at a pace ‘beyond your ability’. There will always be a wide variety in people’s walking abilities which will be carefully managed by the leader team. This team will always keep the group together for maximum safety on each peak and set a sensible pace for all to achieve this challenge within the planned time frame. A support vehicle will be available at checkpoints for anyone struggling to complete the challenge.

Keeping Safe post-Covid

This challenge is planned to start running in 2021 when we hope that we will live in a ‘post-Covid’ world. Please rest assured that Charity Challenge will continue to monitor all of the latest advice from both the government and local authorities and will ensure that all of our safety systems are up to date.

We produced a ‘Covid-19: Keeping you safe on your challenge’ document to outline what we were putting in place across all of our UK challenges. This document can be read here. We will be updating this document to reflect the restrictions that are put in place in 2021.

Booking with Confidence