A half marathon is a road running event of 21.0975 kilometres —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcuts. If finisher medals are awarded, the medal or ribbon may differ from those for the full marathon. The half marathon is also known as a 21K, 21.1K, or 13.1 miles, although these values are rounded and not formally correct.
The European Athletics Championships is a biennial athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.
Maru Teferi is an Ethiopian-born Israeli marathon and half marathon runner, and an Olympian. He won a silver medal in men's marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a silver medal in marathon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, a gold medal in the 2022 European Marathon Cup, and the gold medal at the 2022 Fukuoka Marathon. He represented Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's marathon, and again represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 2020 Olympic Marathon. He has set Israeli records in both the marathon and half marathon. Teferi will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the men's marathon on 10 August 2024.
Yassine Rachik is a Moroccan-born Italian long-distance runner who won the Italian Athletics Championships three times and also won an individual bronze medal at the 2018 European Athletics Championships.
The European Half Marathon Cup is a quadrennial team marathon competition between European countries held for the first time in 2016, incorporated in the half marathon events of the European Athletics Championships. The event alternates biennially with the European Marathon Cup which is held under similar rules when the European Athletics Championships are held in non-Olympic years.
The 20K run is a long distance foot race. It is a rarely held race that is not recognized as an Olympic event. The event held IAAF world championship status in 2006 only, when the existing IAAF World Half Marathon Championships briefly hosted the shorter distance.
Girmaw Amare is an Ethiopian-born Israeli Olympic runner. He competes in the 10,000 m, half marathon, marathon, and half marathon team event. He represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2022, Amare won a team gold medal in the 2022 European Marathon Cup at the 2022 European Athletics Championships. In 2023 at the Valencia Marathon, Amare ran a personal best 2:05:52. He will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the marathon on August 10, 2024.
The 25K run is a long distance running footrace that is between the distance of a half marathon and a marathon. It was formerly an official world record distance in road running by World Athletics, but has since been downgraded to world best status. Separately, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians retains world records in the 25K distance. The ARRS holds different standards for records than World Athletics, with exclusions for certain point-to-point races and mixed sex races. As a result its women's world record is 1:26:34 by Nancy Conz, set in 1982.
