Run South London will bring a new 13.1-mile half marathon to Merton on Sunday 14 March 2027, with a route passing the All England Club.

The race will start and finish in Morden Park, taking runners towards Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Common and through Morden and Raynes Park.

Organised by the Great Run Company and Merton Council, the event aims to celebrate the borough’s neighbourhoods as well as its Wimbledon sporting heritage.

Organisers hope it will inspire more people to get active and bring extra trade to local cafés, shops and hotels.

Residents should look out for travel and access information as race day approaches, particularly if they plan to move around the route that Sunday.

Organisers hope the race will become a regular fixture that local communities embrace year after year.

Families at 28 Merton schools faced possible disruption after support staff strike action was planned for Friday 9 October over the gap between inner and outer London pay.

It is not confirmed whether the action went ahead or how individual schools operated.

Merton Council said schools would tell parents and carers directly whether they would open fully, open partly or close, so families should check messages from their child’s school.

The council said it was working with affected schools to limit disruption, with particular attention to safeguarding, vulnerable pupils and children with additional needs.

According to the council, the GMB requested a one-off payment for affected staff, but the council rejected it, arguing it would not resolve the underlying pay gap.

Merton says it supports fair pay and is pressing for a lasting solution through national negotiations on school support staff pay and London weighting.