2025 Courses

M&T Printing Group 5K

BackRoads Brews + Shoes 10K

Asics RunKeeper Half Marathon

*Our courses are all professionally certified through Athletics Ontario.

Overview of the courses

We hope that our participants will enjoy our scenic courses that were designed with course enjoyment as our top priority. The courses begin by running the streets of downtown followed by crossing over the beautiful Blackfriars bridge. They continue along the Thames River before passing through the Blackfriars neighbourhood.

The 5K then crosses over the Oxford Street bridge, and then under the famous Talbot Street bridge before heading back to do a lap of Victoria Park to the finish line.

The 10K and Half Marathon continue up Wharncliffe, past the lawn-bowling club, to the footbridge that leads into Gibbons Park. Following the scenic trail, alongside the river and through “Banana Kingdom” (As London runners like to call it). These courses come out onto The Parkway. The 10K then turns into Western University, over the bridge, and does a lap of the iconic University Hill. *We realize this part of the race might be tough, but we hope that participants can appreciate the wide open course, beautiful views and “what goes up, must come down” on the other side of the hill. The 10K then ventures back to the park with a combination of roads and a little bit of trail as they go under the Oxford Street bridge.

The Half Marathon participants can enjoy venturing past the stunning St. Peter’s Seminary into the character-filled homes and lovely Old North neighbourhood. The flat, straight course up Adelaide will remind participants that it is a true road race. Then they will turn down Windermere, into the stunning Tetherwood neighbourhood and onto the somewhat newly created, winding TVP path that leads them back to the University along the river again. Then it’s their turn to do a lap of Western University. We gave them a more gradual (slightly less steep incline) than the 10K, that takes them past the University Community Centre & the McIntosh Art Gallery. They then link back up with the 10K course which leads to the 5K course, and back to the finish line!

Beautiful bridge count: 5K: 3, 10K: 4, HM: 8

Notes:

  • Please note that our courses are professionally measured and certified through Athletics Ontario.

  • Our 5K distance: 5.00km, our 10K distance: 10.00km, our half-marathon distance: 21.0975km

  • All routes are paved without any curbs to allow for bicycle marshals & wheelchair or stroller participants.

  • Each kilometer is marked with a sign for each course

  • All courses have the same finish line which is located in front of our title sponsor, Canada Life on Dufferin Avenue.

  • London Police Services will be located at every traffic light intersection and at various higher-traffic points on the courses. They will also be on motorcycles and in vehicles monitoring the courses all morning.

  • Western Special Constables will be located through Western University. They will be managing traffic at the lights and while the bridge is closed for participant use.

  • Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Team will be located directly at the finish line, as well as have some of their Doctors riding the courses on Bicycle.

  • St. John Ambulance with have their first response teams at the finish line and will also be riding the courses on bicycle.

  • Course Marshals will be located along the course routes to ensure everyone stays on course and alert our Course Director of any medical or safety issues.

  • Bike Course Marshals will be leading, riding with the flow of participants and acting as a follow bike to ensure everyone makes it back to the finish line safely.

  • Water & Aid Stations will be located every 2-5 km on the courses. These are volunteer groups that offer water and/or Gatorade to participants. They also have first aid kits, chaffing cream and various medical supplies if needed.

Who’s on the courses with you?

  1. Wharncliffe & Empress
    Water, Gatorade, Aid Station, 2 porta-pottys
    HM - 2.5km | 10K - 2km | 5K - 2.5km

  2. The Parkway & Sunset
    Water, Gatorade, Aid Station, plus 2 porta-pottys
    HM - 5km & 17km | 10K - 6km

  3. Adelaide – at the entrance to the North Athletic Fields
    Water, Gatorade, Aid Station, *City Washrooms are located at Adelaide & Windermere

    HM - 10.5km

  4. Ross Park
    Water, Gatorade, Aid Station, plus 1 porta-potty
    HM - 14km

  5. Talbot & Ann
    Water, Gatorade, Aid Station
    HM – 20km | 10K - 8.5km | 5K - 3.5km

Water & Aid Stations + Washrooms

  • We welcome all strollers & assistance devices in the races. We kindly ask that that you stay near the back of the start corral to avoid any possible tripping.

  • For the safety of all participants, skateboards, roller blades, jump shoes, animals and unauthorized bicycles or electric devices such as scooters or boards are not permitted in the race.

  • We welcome runners and walkers alike. We have elite athletes who will be all out racing our courses, participants who will be jogging, and others who will be leisurely walking. We want everyone to feel welcome and celebrated at the Forest City Road Races.

  • We do not have time limits. We do however have to open the roads back up and the London Police have to get back to their regular duties. We have a Bicycle team who follows each race, and they will kindly ask participants to move to the sidewalks after 11:30 am. We will not close down the finish line until the last participant is through with the bike marshal. We are fully aware that we have groups in the half-marathon, 10K and 5K who casually walk the courses each year in support of the Thames Valley Children’s Centre, and we appreciate their support.

  • We do not have age limits. We recommend that participants in the 5K be at least 10-years-old, the 10K be at least 14-years-old, and the 21.1K be at least 16-years-old. These recommended ages are based on Run Canada suggestions.

    We will leave participation of participants under 18 years of age up to the discretion of their parent or guardian.

  • We welcome kids of all ages and abilities into the kids’ fun run. We have had close to new-borns in strollers participate to teenagers on the front of the line racing. Rob (our official starter) will let everyone know that fast runners should be at the front, joggers behind, and walkers towards the back. He will also thank the kids for participating on behalf of the TVCC kids!

    We welcome parents to participate with their children or meet them at the end of the finish chute. We also welcome strollers and all assistance devices.

    All kids will receive a bib (with their name on it if they register on or before May 16th), and a medal. There is the option to buy an official kids race t-shirt in registration.

    Kids will go through the post-race food tent for goodies and are welcome to checkout our fun-zone. We have bouncy castles and basketball as well as some fun things from our Ontario Dairy Farmers sponsors, Growing Chefs and the Boys & Girls Club of London!

    The kids’ fun run is approximately 700m. It is not a chip-timed event; however, the clock at the finish line is running for it.

    It starts on Central Ave, goes around Wellington, and finishes on Dufferin Ave in front of the Canada Life building.

    Once our kids’ race is sold out, we can’t add more participants to it. We cap it at 250 participants so that our start corral isn’t too packed, and everyone can spread out. We also can’t print their names on their bibs after they have been sent to print. However, if the race is not sold out when we send them to print, M&T prints extra bibs with a blank space on them so that you can write their name on it.

Course FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions.