23.786 runners on the starting line and the fastest half marathon in 2015. The Copenhagen Half Marathon is the new world class race.
The fastest half marathon time this year and four men under the hour. The debut of the Copenhagen Half Marathon yesterday showed that Copenhagen is city of the runners
Like last year’s World Half Marathon a strong field of elite runners participated, many of them revisiting Copenhagen, Denmark. The Copenhagen Half Marathon course is designed for records and both elite and recreational runners took the advantage and set records.
»It was a fantastic event. Actually one of the best half marathons I have been to. For the athletes a half marathon is an individual event but for the organisers it is a team effort. I have never seen such a great cooperation between a club, the federation, the city and the partners and sponsors. It is a great start of a new marriage. And the weather conditions were almost perfect,” says David Katz, International Technical official.
The praise sits well with the organisers:
»Our goal was to create a legacy of the world championships, which could contribute to the international World of Running, Copenhagen, Danish runners and Denmark in general. This debut was a perfect launch for the Danish bid for the IAAF World Half Marathon 2018,” says Jakob Larsen, CEO, Danish Athletic Federation
Lars Lundov, CEO, Sport Event Denmark that partners the event says:
»Copenhagen Half Marathon demonstrated that Denmark can build on the legacy of past events and add new dimensions. The IAAF World Half Marathon last year with the combination of elite and recreational runners became a huge success and spectators celebrated running in the city – to day the celebration continued.«
Lars Vallentin, head of Sport Events, Wonderful Copenhagen:
»We want to distinguish ourselves positively, as we did with the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 2014. With festivities in the streets we created unique experiences for the runners and with a central course through picturesque Copenhagen we manifest Copenhagen as a leading sporting event destination. A manifesto that hopefully could help us once again being awarded the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 2018.«
Top 3 men:
1. Bedan Karoki Muchiri (KEN): 59:14
2. Alex Oloitiptip Korio (KEN): 59:28
3. Edwin Kipyego (Ken): 59:30
Top 3 women:
1. Purity Rionoripo (KEN): 1:08:29
2. Sutume Asefa (ETH): 1:08:47
3. Lucy Wangui Kabuu (KEN): 1:08:51
FACTS:
Copenhagen Half Marathon is organised by The Danish Athletic Federation and Sparta and partnered by Sport Event Denmark, Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. Copenhagen Half Marathon is the first road race in Scandinavia to be awarded the bronze label from IAAF.