Half Marathons in Europe?

Phoole

Hi guys,

I'm hoping to do a nice half or two in Europe next year and am looking for some recommendations. Obviously, a bit of scenery (city or countryside) would be nice and somewhere not to difficult to get to. Something well organised would be a bonus with a medal or t-shirt at the end! Cost isn't really an issue.

Any thoughts?

Cheers!

Skidrow

Phoole wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm hoping to do a nice half or two in Europe next year and am looking for some recommendations. Obviously, a bit of scenery (city or countryside) would be nice and somewhere not to difficult to get to. Something well organised would be a bonus with a medal or t-shirt at the end! Cost isn't really an issue.

Any thoughts?

Cheers!

Berlin - 3 April 2016 - big event - really well organised and supported.
They even have hot showers after the race!
Take a few extra days and make it a long weekend as it is a fantastic city in so many ways.

Phoole

Skidrow wrote: »

Berlin - 3 April 2016 - big event - really well organised and supported.
They even have hot showers after the race!
Take a few extra days and make it a long weekend as it is a fantastic city in so many ways.

Brilliant thanks Skidrow. The idea is to make it a nice weekend break out of it!

Skidrow

We stayed in the Adina aparthotel near the main train station. Very reasonable and modern.
It had a small well equipped kitchen - very handy for the pre-race stressed out runner!
Need to book early as the 30,000 race spots sell out before Christmas.

There is also an in-line roller skating race before the half which is a sight to behold in itself.

chrislad

I'm thinking of doing one also. I'm looking at Prague and Berlin, both in April. Any preferences or positive/negative experiences?

Auntie Matter

Both the Reykjavik Midnight Sun Run (late June) and the Reykjavik Marathon (late August) include a half marathon race. Both races are organised by the same people - the website, in both Icelandic and English, is marathon(dot)is. Reykjavik is very accessible from Dublin now that WOW operate direct flights there 3 times a week.

I did the 5K Midnight Sun Run last June, purely for fun, during a trip to Iceland, and really enjoyed it. The options were 5K, 10K or HM. All races begin in the Laugadalur park near the national stadium, which is close enough to the city centre and can be reached by bus. The 5K was around the park, with the 10K and HM going out into the countryside a bit. Well organised with very reasonable entry fees. The basic fee just gets you the race entry. Medal is €4 extra and there are tech tops available to buy at number pick-up (which are much nicer than the ones shown on the website). The tops are a bit expensive, unfortunately, as clothes tend to be in Iceland due to high import duties.

The marathon in August (with 10K and HM races too) looks to be more a typical city marathon starting and finishing in the city centre.

Both events draw runners of all ages and levels. While the numbers taking part are relatively small, the population of Iceland is only about 330,000, so the numbers running are proportionately quite large.

One big upside of these races is the weather - even in summer in Iceland, it tends to be overcast and not that warm, so ideal for running.

Downside is that as Iceland is having a tourism boom at the moment, hotels and hostels fill up quickly and aren't cheap. I couldn't recommend it highly enough as a place to visit - loads to see and do and nice, welcoming people.

Itziger

Luxembourg, May 28th. 7 pm start Saturday.

Medium sized race - roughly 11,000. Not flat but enjoyable. Easy enough to get to. Direct from Dublin more expensive, cheap to Hahn or Charleroi.

Itziger

Valencia was on today. Pancake flat and a nice spot for a few days hols. Add to your list maybe.

RacoonQueen

Itziger wrote: »

Luxembourg, May 28th. 7 pm start Saturday.

Medium sized race - roughly 11,000. Not flat but enjoyable. Easy enough to get to. Direct from Dublin more expensive, cheap to Hahn or Charleroi.

This sounds interesting. I'd generally run better at night, like a lot of people so would be interesting to do a half in the evening time.

Itziger

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This sounds interesting. I'd generally run better at night, like a lot of people so would be interesting to do a half in the evening time.

Highly recommend it RQ, but not for PB. Couple of climbs in the last 6k always prove tough. It's a good event though and there's no excuse for not having a few jars afterwards: it is Saturday evening like.

Itziger

Itziger wrote: »

Valencia was on today. Pancake flat and a nice spot for a few days hols. Add to your list maybe.

Don't normally quote myself but I was taking a peek at the results of this race. My PB of 1.22.0X would have seen me outside the top 300.

Both this and the full, in November, are races to think about for those looking for PBs and, quite important for the speedier types, plenty of company.

Peadar_85

Would recommend the Barcelona one myself. Think it generally takes place in mid-February and starts early so doesn't generally get too hot. Huge field of runners and good crowds out supporting; they had some cracking street performances going on too. T-shirt included at the expo and medals provided at the end.

Djoucer

Itziger wrote: »

Don't normally quote myself but I was taking a peek at the results of this race. My PB of 1.22.0X would have seen me outside the top 300.

Both this and the full, in November, are races to think about for those looking for PBs and, quite important for the speedier types, plenty of company.

I did the Valencia hm on Sunday. It's completely flat and a nice course. Bottles of water too at water stations.
It is v warm tho. 23 degrees or so on Sunday. That said, it's one of the fastest hms in Europe.

Direct flights to and from Dublin. Would recommend it. Great city and race.
They had free beer afterwards (2% lemon thing but it was delicious after 13 sweaty miles.)

Phoole

Djoucer wrote: »

I did the Valencia hm on Sunday. It's completely flat and a nice course. Bottles of water too at water stations.
It is v warm tho. 23 degrees or so on Sunday. That said, it's one of the fastest hms in Europe.

Direct flights to and from Dublin. Would recommend it. Great city and race.
They had free beer afterwards (2% lemon thing but it was delicious after 13 sweaty miles.)

Definitely going to look at this next year. I love the warm weather and this will be something to aim for between the Dublin Half and Clontarf Half.

Phoole

Peadar_85 wrote: »

Would recommend the Barcelona one myself. Think it generally takes place in mid-February and starts early so doesn't generally get too hot. Huge field of runners and good crowds out supporting; they had some cracking street performances going on too. T-shirt included at the expo and medals provided at the end.

This look interesting too. Something to get me moving after Christmas.