The Copenhagen Half Marathon is an annual half marathonroad running event which takes place in September on the city streets of Copenhagen, Denmark, first held in 2015. It is a World AthleticsGold Label Road Race,[1] making it the foremost race of its type in the country. The race features both public and professional elements.
The Copenhagen Half Marathon is the largest annual road running event in the city, followed by the more established Copenhagen Marathon, which has been held there since 1980.[2]Geoffrey Kamworor set the half marathon world record during this race with a time of 58:01 in 2019.
History
The event was launched after the success holding of the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in the city. The course was slightly modified for the newly created annual event, with the race starting and finishing near Parken Stadium.[3]
Nearly 20,000 runners took part in the inaugural edition in 2015.[4] The first winners were both Kenyan, with Bedan Karoki Muchiri taking the men's race in 59:14 minutes and Purity Cherotich Rionoripo being the women's winner in 68:29 minutes.[5]
Over 22,000 runners took part in the 2016 edition. The winners were James Mwangi Wangari from Kenya taking the men's race in 59:07 minutes and Purity Cherotich Rionoripo from Ethiopia being the women's winner in 68:00 minutes, both beating the existing course record.[6]
The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronaviruspandemic, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or obtaining a refund.[9]