Firstly here is my video blog of this event https://youtu.be/eWQQ0pKzi24

At the Shine Walk there is a half marathon option & a marathon option but this is a walk, no running.

On arrival there was a good race village with hot drinks & hot food available for purchase.

It's all set off within waves with a 19:20 & 20:20 half marathon then a 21:20 & 22:20 Marathon.

When your wave goes you enter the start zone via a blue or red or yellow arch & you are handed a course map, bottle of water, a foil emergency blanket & a wrist band that has an LED light on corresponding to the colour of your zone.

There is then a holding area with a stage & big screen. You are played a few videos around people who have had cancer, or lost someone from cancer & people speak on stage too. It reminds you why you are doing this & makes the emotion quite raw so I guess you can use that as inspiration as you set off on your mammoth walk.

They then spin a wheel & whatever colour the wheel lands on was the colour of the wrist band that goes first & off you'd go with a big countdown.

Within the first few miles there was a live choir playing on a bandstand, Tower Bridge, later on big London sites like Big Ben, The eye, Buckingham Palce etc.

It's not a closed road course but is predominantly on pavement / sidewalk & when you need to cross roads there were marshals & police officers making it safe.

Six rest stations along the route handing out water Protein Bars, Fruit Pastals, chocolate brioche buns etc. These had a good amount of toilets at each rest station.

At Old Billingsgate inside where there is free tea/coffee & hot food for purchase. The medal was good quality, bespoke to the year (not the same medal reused) 

what I'd suggest is if you are doing the half route & you think you'll do it in under 5 hours, go for the earlier wave then you'll probably make your last train home. If it's gonna take you longer go for the later wave, less waiting at the other end for trains to re start to get home.

Marathon I set off in the 21:20 wave, I walked in 9:20 & pretty much fell onto the first train. A quicker Walker might want the slightly later Marathon start.

Basically plan your travel, walking time & wave.