Bogota Half Marathon

Bogotá Half Marathon
The Primary Cathedral of Bogotá overlooks the starting point on Bolívar Square
Date	Late July/Early August
Location	Bogotá, Colombia
Event type	Road
Distance	Half marathon
Established	2000
Official site	Bogotá Half Marathon

The Bogotá International Half Marathon (Spanish: Media Maratón Internacional de Bogotá) is an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance 21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi) which takes place in Bogotá, Colombia in late July or early August. Established in 2000, it holds IAAF Gold Label Road Race status, making it the first and thus far only South American race to achieve this accreditation. The competition features both elite and popular (or recreational) sections within the half marathon and 10 km races. Around 45,000 runners take part in the competition's events each year.

Both the courses at the race have a point-to-point format. The course of the half marathon race begins at Bolívar Square and heads northwards past Avenida Jiménez and Parque Nacional, before turning westwards at the Unicentro shopping centre. The course continues heading to the west, passing the Salitre Mágico amusement park, and then finishes at Simón Bolívar Park. The 10 km race has identical start and finishing points, but follows a more direct path between the two – heading north on Calle 26 then switching to Calle 53 which goes directly past Bolívar Park.

The elite race has featured a number of high profile runners, including former marathon world record holder and champion Catherine Ndereba, two-time Saint Silvester Road Race winner James Kwambai, Olympic medallist and New York City Marathon champion Joyce Chepchumba and 2005 World Half Marathon champion Fabiano Joseph. The race is not typically conducive to fast times as the city and its course are at 2600 metres above sea-level, a factor which inhibits long distance runners.