EDP Lisbon Half Marathon is an annual international half marathon competition which is contested every March in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal. It carries

IAAF Gold Label Road Race World Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics (until 2019: ''IAAF'') designates as one of the "leading road races around the world." The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of ...

status. The men's course record of 57:31 was set by Jacob Kiplimo in 2021, which is the current world record for the half marathon distance.World Athletics (2021-11-21)
Kiplimo breaks world half marathon record in Lisbon. World Athletics
. Retrieved on 2021-11-22. Kenya">World Athletics">Kiplimo breaks world half marathon record in Lisbon. World Athletics
. Retrieved on 2021-11-22. Kenyan runners have been very successful in the competition, accounting for over half of the total winners, with Tegla Loroupe taking the honours in the women's race on six separate occasions. The Lisbon Half Marathon is not to be confused with Luso

Portugal Half Marathon Luso Portugal Half Marathon or Luso Meia Maratona de Portugal is an annual half marathon contested every October in Lisbon, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose ...

, another prominent half marathon race which is also held in Lisbon in October.

History

First held in 1991, the race has consistently delivered fast winning times. However, many of these times have been unratifiable for record purposes due to factors including: the course being too short (1991–93), excessive tailwinds, as well as there being an excessive drop in altitude, which boosted athletes' performances (1996, 1998, 2000–01, 2004, and 2006).Krol, Maarten (2009-03-29)
Lisbon International Half Marathon

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2010-03-22.Moreira, Cristina & Costa, Paulo (2005-03-13)
Tergat runs 59:10 in Lisbon Half Marathon

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-03-22. The course was judged as non-permissible for records until 2008, in which year the organisers changed the elite course to allow for records. The new course begins at sea level on the north side of the river Tagus, a change which made the course entirely flat. The course for the mass participation race, which has attracted almost 30,000 runners in previous years, remained unchanged and begins by crossing the

Ponte 25 de Abril The 25 de Abril Bridge ( pt, Ponte 25 de Abril, 25th of April Bridge, ) is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus river. It has a total l ...

suspension bridge before linking up with the new elite course.Dixon, Andy (2009-05-06)
Lisbon Half-Marathon
'' Runner's World''. Retrieved on 2010-03-22. The current elite course of the half marathon begins in a small town on the north bank of the Tagus, no longer crossing the bridge, and the course is wide and flat from there on. Heading eastwards towards the city centre, the course passes the docks and traces a route alongside much of the city's historical architecture, including the Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery. From 2008 onwards, the organisers set aside a €50,000 prize pot for any athlete breaking the world record over the half marathon distance. This led to the participation of a number of prominent athletes, with marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie winning the 2008 edition, while

Charles Kamathi Charles Waweru Kamathi (born 18 May 1978, near Nyeri, Kenya) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He is best known for winning the 10,000 metres distance at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton. Career Early life and career Kamathi started ru ...

and

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Robert "Mwafrika" Kipkoech Cheruiyot (born 26 September 1978 in Kapsabet, Kenya), sometimes known as Omar Ahmed, is a Kenyan marathon runner and is the former record holder and four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Early career Cheruiy ...

followed behind.Fernandes, Antonio Manuel (2008-03-16)
In largely solo run, Gebrselassie takes Lisbon Half Marathon

. Retrieved on 2010-03-22. Another strong field was assembled in 2010 and Zersenay Tadese of

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

broke both the 20 kilometres and half marathon world records in his winning run. The competition also hosts a

mini marathon A mini marathon is a long-distance road race of a distance which is less than a marathon. The term is sometimes used in place of "Half Marathon" (OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis), but can also be applied to races of other dist ...

race, which has featured many prominent Portuguese citizens, including the former President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio, and

José Socrates José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, the

Portuguese Prime Minister The prime minister of the Portuguese Republic ( pt, primeiro-ministro da República Portuguesa) is the head of the Government of Portugal. They coordinate the actions of all ministers, represent the Government as a whole, report their actions ...

Energias de Portugal EDP - Energias de Portugal (formerly Electricidade de Portugal) is a Portuguese electric utilities company, headquartered in Lisbon. It was founded in 1976 through the merger of 14 nationalised electricity companies. History EDP was founded as '' ...

has sponsored the competition for a number of years. The 2020 edition of the race was first postponed to 2020.09.06, and then to 2021.05.09, due to the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

.https://files.cdsi.pt/maratona/comunicado_coronavirus_2020.pdf