Berlin Half Marathon

The Berlin Half Marathon is a major endurance event held annually in early spring in Berlin, Germany. Besides the runner´s main race, the event includes a race for inline skaters, wheelchair athletes and handbikers. All athletes use the same course, which has the official half marathon distance of 21.0975 km.

The Berlin Half Marathon, as well as the BERLIN-MARATHON, is hosted by the club SCC Berlin and organized by SCC EVENTS.

The story of the Berlin Half Marathon reflects a major part of the history of the German capital. Its predecessors came from East and West Berlin. The Berlin Half Marathon, as it exists today, arose 1990 from the Berliner Friedenslauf (Berlin Peace Run) which took place in East Berlin since 1982 and the SCC Half Marathon in the western part of the city. The Berliner Friedenslauf covered various distances, among others a 20 kilometer race and a marathon. The event was established by the government of the GDR and served not only as a sporting event but also as an important propaganda tool. The SCC Half Marathon on the other side had local character and was designed to be the final test in preparation for the BERLIN-MARATHON, which took place four weeks later.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the ensuing collapse of the GDR, the support for the Berliner Friedenslauf also diminished. So the former organizer Stefan Senkel quickly had to find a new partner to save the race. SCC-RUNNING, the organizer of the BERLIN-MARATHON, joined. Both parties agreed on one distance: a half marathon. Thus, there is only one major half marathon in Berlin since 1990.

Over the years the Berlin Half Marathon increased in size and popularity. Today it is by far the biggest half marathon race in Germany with more than 30.000 participants.

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