Göteborgsvarvet

Göteborgsvarvet
Runners at the 2010 edition of the race
Date	May
Location	Gothenburg, Sweden
Event type	Road
Distance	Half marathon
Established	1980; 37 years ago (1980)
Course records	Male 00:59:35 (2016) Richard Mengich Female 1:08:01 (2016) Viola Jepchumba
Official site	www.goteborgsvarvet.se/

Göteborgsvarvet (Swedish: [jœtɛˈbɔrjsˌvarvɛt]) is an annual half marathon running competition in Gothenburg, Sweden (often called Göteborg half marathon in English). It is the largest annual running competition in Sweden, and the largest half-marathon running competition in the world, with its 62,000 entries for the Göteborgsvarvet competition on 18 May 2013. In 2016, 64,500 people entered the race. The youngest runner was 17 years old and the oldest female runner, 83 and male runner, 87. Its name is a word play; the Swedish language-word "varv" has a double meaning and can mean both lap and shipyard ("skeppsvarv"), as Gothenburg historically has been known as a shipyard town.

The race takes place in May, and has been organised annually since 1980. It starts outside, and finishes in, the old athletics arena Slottsskogsvallen in the Slottsskogen park. It takes off northwards over the large suspension bridge Älvsborg Bridge, follows the north bank to the Göta älv river, and returns over the Göta Älv Bridge, goes through the inner city, before reaching the finish.

The race has hosted the Swedish national championship race on five occasions (1995, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2016).

Key:   Course record   Swedish national championship race