It’s Three Royal Race Starters for the London Marathon

Kate wore a Heads Together jacket and Breton stripe top for today’s London Marathon.

The young Royals had the honor of officially starting the mass race, which began an hour after the elite runners were off. It is the 37th year for the Marathon.

And away… they… GO! #Londonmarathon#bbcathleticspic.twitter.com/3TilyTzb7A

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 23, 2017

In some ways, this is the culmination of a year’s worth of work by Kate, William, and Harry. It was a year ago tomorrow that the formation of Heads Together was announced, an organization focused on destigmatizing mental heath issues.

This was also when it was announced that Heads Together was the official charity partner of the Marathon. The Royals hoped this year’s race would be thought of as the ‘mental health marathon.” There has already been significant benefit from the project; more from Sky News.

It’s anticipated the marathon will raise millions for mental health charities.

Figures seen by Sky News show that many of the eight charity partners for Heads Together, have already seen a huge increase in demand for their services.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive of Young Minds, said it has also boosted their lobbying power as charities push for more government funding

If I learn any more about plans for Heads Together, I will update the post.

The Duke, Duchess and Prince Harry with Team Heads Together runners before the race. William, Kate and Harry cheering on racers.

It looked like someone was enjoying his air horn.

From The Mirror’s coverage:

Among those pounding the streets of London along the 26.2-mile course are more than 700 running for William, Kate and Harry’s Heads Together mental health campaign – the chosen charity of the London Marathon.

The initiative aims to encourage the country to talk more about its problems and mental-health issues, or be a sympathetic ear for those in need.

They were lots of people rooting for Team Heads Together runners; you can see some of them in this photo shared by Alison Baum, OBE. Ms. Baum is the founder and CEO of Best Beginnings, one of the Heads Together primary partner charities.

One runner even managed a selfie with Kate. This photo was shared on Twitter by Joanna Walker. Joanna is undertaking 30 challenges on behalf of Heads Together, and this is one of them. If interested in sponsoring Joanna as she continues her challenges, here is a link to her Virgin Money Giving page.

From today’s Daily Mail coverage:

Many stopped to pose for selfies with the royals or ran over to high five them or shake hands in a more genteel way.

‘Wills and Harry!’ one runner shouted across to them, waving. Others applauded the trio as they ran by.

‘Well done guys,’ William shouted. ‘Thank you so much,’ Kate told some of the 700 competitors running on behalf of the Heads Together mental health campaign.

Here you can see some of the people posing for selfies.

Some wondered if the three might run the race; the answer via Sky News:

Asked if any of them had considered taking on the 26.2 mile challenge, Prince Harry said: “Yes I think all three of us were tempted, but it was probably safer and easier for us not to and to try and do our best to lead the campaign and let the focus be on the Heads Together runners which was 200 and is now 700.”

The big blue foam finger seemed particularly entertaining.

Here you see Prince Harry with the McEwan family; Harry served with Alex McEwan in the Household Cavalry.

The Royals were in their element.

They clearly enjoyed the day.

Here is Prince Harry at Mile 22 in this video from Rebecca English, I thought it was worth the 3 seconds it takes to watch it.

Prince Harry is at mile 22 cheering with one of our youngest #TeamHeadsTogether supporters! #LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/aHSotZtqjW

— Heads Together (@heads_together) April 23, 2017

The Duke and Duchess handing out water.

Look who appeared at Mile 22 to hand out refreshments to the #LondonMarathon runners… pic.twitter.com/9d7lU9d7q6 — Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 23, 2017

It would probably be quite a jolt if you happened to glance at who was handing you the bottle of water, realizing it was a member of the royal family.

Rebecca English of the Daily Mail shared this photo of Kate.

Here you see the trio distributing medals to race finishers.

The Royals spent time chatting with runners as they cooled down after the race.

These photos are all via Kensington Palace.

To see all of the photos that Kensington Palace posted on Twitter, click here.

I think everyone had a great time.

Now for what Kate wore to the Marathon.

Kate was in a Heads Together jacket by Regatta.

I’m looking for the exact model and also trying to discover if the same version is available to the public. UPDATE: Louise (@Loubou82) suggested on Twitter that it may be the Regatta Professional Softshell Jacket. This style is described as being fitted, which Kate’s is, and other details look the same. We show the jacket at Amazon, where it is $27.45.

UPDATED APR 24: Regatta Professional verify that Kate is wearing the brand’s Softshell Print Perfect jacket. The piece is treated with a water-repellent finish; it is wind-resistant and quick-drying.

Here is a closer look at the front zipper tabs.

Regatta is family-owned and based in Manchester, so it is a case of the royals waving the flag for British industry. The consensus is that beneath her jacket Kate wore her ‘Drew’ Breton stripe top first noted in a Heads Together video.

The rib-stitch sweater is made of a midweight merino wool, it features a wide boatneck, and it is machine washable. The blue and white version is now sold out, but the piece is offered in a navy/orange design, it is on sale at The Outnet, where it is priced at £85.80.

The Duchess also wore her Superga Cotu Sneakers. They are on sale for $37.99 at Soft Surrounding; they’re also available at Nordstrom in all sizes ($65), and at Shopbop in all sizes ($65).

And we saw the Kiki McDonough Lauren leaf earrings with pavé diamonds.

Kate wore her Ray-Ban folding sunglasses.

We don’t yet know the brand of jeans Kate has on, but we’re looking for them. We take a speedy detour through the land of what William wore to let anyone interested know he was in the Stormtech Cruise Softshell Jacket.

We leave you with this terrific shot from James Whatling.

LINKAGE:

In today’s Linkage we share the mental health charities partnering with Heads Together.

• The Heads Together website is here; its Facebook page is here; Twitter feed here and Instagram feed here
• Anna Freud Centre works with children’s mental health; its Facebook page is here & Twitter feed here
• Best Beginnings – “aims to reduce child health inequalities by creating and distributing innovative resources for families and professionals”. You’ll find the Best Beginnings Facebook page here, and Twitter feed here. 
• C.A.L.M. – the Campaign Against Living Miserably focuses on male suicide prevention. The CALM Facebook page is here, and Twitter feed here.
• CONTACT – a collaboration of charities working with the Ministry of Defence and NHS on behalf of current and formerly serving military personnel and their families
• Place2Be focuses on in-school support for children encountering mental health issues; Kate has been involved with the organization since 2013. The Place2Be Facebook page is here, and Twitter feed here.
• Mind – “The mental health charity.” The Mind Facebook page is here, and Twitter feed here.
• Young Minds – “committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.” Visit the group’s Facebook page here and the Twitter feed here.
• The Mix – “the UK’s largest support service for those under 25″.  You’ll find the charity’s Facebook page here, and Twitter feed here.