_{^{This article contains affiliate links, if you click on one I may get a small commission.}}

Located in the heart of Copenhagen, this half marathon takes 30,000 runners through small neighborhoods, the heart of downtown, along the water, and back to the start in a wonderful looped course of Copenhagen. As part of the SuperHalfs running series, this race is very popular with runners of all levels looking for a flat and easy course in a stunning city.

If you’re looking for someone to plan a vacation around the Copenhagen Half Marathon for you, look no further. I offer trip consultations, tailored travel itineraries, and end-to-end trip planning. I even support running clubs traveling in large groups.

No race is perfect, but this half marathon had several issues that should be easy fixes. From poor crowd control, to a late in the day start, and a big mess of a finish line, this was not my favorite half marathon of the twelve I ran this year. But there were good points, with lots of fans, a flat course, and plenty of water spots. 

I think it is also worth noting that this race did not start the elite runners until after 11AM. Which meant they still had groups heading out onto the course at noon. Maybe if it was a cool fall day, that would have been fine, but the weather was very warm. I saw lots of people passing out on the course.

Copenhagen Half Marathon Course

For 90% of the race, the course was perfect. It passed a variety of interesting locations such as Frederik’s Church, the Black Diamond, and Nyhavn. The streets were wide with plenty of space to run. There were tons of supporters, and signs, to keep you distracted, and plenty of water spots. The only minor issue I had in this part of the course was the sun. There was very little shade along the course, made worse by the fact that the race was happening mid-day. In fact, when there was shade everybody would move into it. This created very cramped portions of the race, despite having plenty of space if people were willing to brave the sun.

Then the last mile happened. Here is where the race organizers started to fumble. Due to the 30,000 runners, there were lots of people on the course at all points. Which wasn’t a problem when we had space. But in the last mile the crowd started to close in, and suddenly what was four lanes to run became one lane. I personally was stuck next to a pacer in this section whose balloon kept hitting me on the head. I tried to move away from them, but it meant that I had to weave and swerve through the many runners all moving at different paces. Finally in the last 200 meters the course opened back up again to allow runners the chance for a final sprint. 

They have announced changes to the race for next year, however the issues that I noted were not location specific, and rather organization specific, so I don’t see this change resolving the overarching problems.

Supporters at the Copenhagen Half Marathon

The Copenhagen Half is one of the largest half marathons in the world. And the supporters reflect this. Almost every single area of the course had people cheering. The issue is that in a race this large, almost every person was cheering for a specific runner. This creates what I call the 15-45 cheering pattern.

When supporters are looking for a specific runner, and not just cheering for the joy of celebrating everyone, they tend to be quiet when they don’t see their person. But silence for too long can be awkward, so they will cheer for 15 seconds, and then be silent for 45. It means that the majority of the course is passing supporters who are either giving quiet cheers, or waiting silently for their runner.

In contrast, the CPC Den Haag Half Marathon was a smaller race with just as many people lining the course. These supporters were there for the joy of celebrating the runners, and not to watch for a specific person. The cheers were loud and consistent for the entire 13.1 miles.

Refreshments and Restrooms

This race had plenty of water and bathrooms. With over 30,000 runners I was worried that there would be massive lines, but wait times for bathrooms were shorter than normal or average. The one warning I have is that the RedBull station does not have any water, only RedBull. Maybe this wouldn’t matter if it hadn’t been so warm, but gosh I really needed water. 

As mentioned above, everything fell apart near the end of the Copenhagen Half Marathon. This was no different for the water and refreshments. After crossing the finish line the first thing I wanted was water and my medal, but I could not get them. They were being given away in one squished area with hundreds of people trying to reach the volunteers. The normal procedure for races tends to be sending runners into chutes where medals and supplies can be given out on each side. It keeps things moving quickly and efficiently. In this race I had to wait almost 30 minutes to get water after I finished.

About Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a beautiful city, but can be quite expensive. If you are traveling for this race, I would recommend booking your accommodation well in advance of race day. There are enough free things, such as Freetown Christiania to keep you busy, if you are only going for a weekend, but if you are planning to stay longer I would suggest buying a Copenhagen Card. As for food, I used my tips for navigating Google Maps to find quality restaurants.

If you do decide to do the Copenhagen Half Marathon, you can sign up here. But if you want a race with better support for new and/or slow runners, I would look elsewhere. The CPC Den Haag Half Marathon, or the Midnight Sun Marathon would be my choices. Sometimes smaller races are truly better than the big ones.