The organisers of the Richmond Marathon have had to postpone the event next month after a delay in receiving council permission. Instead, they will now put on two 10Ks on the 15th and 16th May all inside Kew Gardens.

The team that held the British Olympic Marathon Trial last month were confident the Richmond Marathon would go ahead due to the return of running events at the end of March. However, they unfortunately ran out of time waiting for permissions from the local authorities. A positive is that these permissions do not affect the AIR:10K run they have been planning to put on inside Kew Gardens the day before.

Tom Bedford, Race Director, says: "It takes a lot of time and organisation to put on a marathon and postponing the event any closer to event day could bankrupt us after the year we have had. It is sad for the runners and charity fundraisers who have put so much time and effort during this testing winter, but we will find another date for the event and hopefully soon. All is not lost as we have permission to put on a socially distanced 10K all inside covid-secure Kew Gardens."

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will now host two 10Ks over the 15th/16th May weekend.

Friends and families may not be able to watch runners during the run but they get free entry into Kew Gardens after the event so runners can talk them through it over a coffee and cake.

Entries for the AIR:10K are almost full but newly released tickets for the Sunday 10K are available at www.richmondrunfest.co.uk