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WHERE TO MEET

At Marble Arch, underneath the arch.
Exit 3 from the tube station (there's some cracking history on the way...)
 

 

WHEN TO ARRIVE

5-10 minutes before the time on your tickets. You don't need to come any earlier - we hate seeing you get cold! Our guides will be there about 15 minutes before the start time. The tour will leave Marble Arch at the start time on your tickets - so if you're late you will miss it. For health and safety reasons, we can't have you join us part-way round the tour. We love hearing from you, but we're unable to delay a tour, or have you join part-way round if you contact us on social media or email.

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TOILETS

Please make sure you have been to the toilet before you arrive. We're hoping that, soon, Secret London Runs will be an enormous company and own thousands of toilets over London (we all have to have dreams, right?). But for now, we rely on you using public toilets before the start of the tour. Thank you for your understanding.
 

 

HOW LONG WILL THE TOUR TAKE?

How long will the tour take? 1.5 - 2 hours. We stop regularly for photos and festive history. If you're booking trains/dinner, we recommend booking no earlier than 2.5 hours after the start of your tour. There are lots of variables (pace of gentlest runner on the tour, how busy the streets are, how many questions our guides gets etc) that impact the length of the tour, and we don't want you to miss any of it. 

 

WHAT TO WEAR
Wear running clothes/running shoes and something Christmassy. Fancy dress optional but very much encouraged. 

In previous years we have given every runner a Santa hat but for environmental reasons we're asking you to wear your long-lasting festive-wear.

 

WHERE DOES THE TOUR END?

King's Cross St Pancras

 

THERE IS NO BAG DROP

There is no bag drop for this tour. The tour starts/ends at different places, which makes it a logistical challenge.
Secret London Runs has been hosting the 10k Christmas Lights tour for 7 years and we've always struggled to find any venue willing to look after thousands of bags for us whilst we run on almost every night in December. Last year we did manage to find a venue, but they didn't enjoy the experience and won't be having us back. So, as with the majority of tours over the years, we invite you to bring a running backpack and pack some extra layers in it for after your run. If that is out of the question, we recommend Luggage Hero who have storage facilities all over London at reasonable rates. 

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PACE

Each tour has a guide pace to keep you in your comfort zone. We are pretty strict on the mantra: "We don't leave anyone struggling at the back". Please double check the pace of your tour and be prepared to run at that pace. If you're lucky enough to be able to run faster than the pace of your tour, then please be prepared for a gentler jog on your tour. We'd appreciate it if you stay behind or next to your tour guide during the tour - this really helps us keep the group together.

 

WON'T IT GET BUSY WITH SHOPPERS?

We've been doing this a while. And although some areas will be busy, we have designed routes that avoid the crowds as much as possible. Some nights are much busier than others (the first week of December tends to contain one or two nights that are more crowded than we'd like) but it does get pretty quiet. If we do hit some crowds, we'll walk for a couple of minutes and then get back to our run. Please be patient with your guide who will do her/his best to get you sweating again as quickly as we can.

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WHAT IF I GET HUNGRY?

Every runner on our Christmas Lights tour will get a complementary snack at the finish-line. Please shout if you need it earlier on in the tour!

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REFUNDS

It's in our terms and conditions, but who reads those hey? Your tickets aren't refundable, but we will switch them to another tour if you give us 14 days notice. You can give your ticket to somebody else to attend in your place. If you're injured, then please check our our walking tour options. We're not trying to be difficult with this policy, but we are a tiny operation coming out of a very difficult 3 years. Our tours, by their nature, have very small capacities so it does make a huge difference to our bottom line when participants switch about. This policy protects our business so that we will survive and be able to hold our 8th year of Christmas lights tours in 2023.