The Big Half is an annual road running event over the half marathon distance (21.1 km), held in central London, United Kingdom. The event, first held in 2018, initially took place in early March, a few weeks before the London Marathon, but after the COVID-19 pandemic switched to dates in late August/early September.

Course

The event, organised by London Marathon Events, attracts both mass and elite participation, with runners following a course that is closed to road traffic. They start near the north side of

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...

the Highway A highway is a long road giving a relatively fast connection between two places. Highway may also refer to: Roads in England * The Highway (London) (previously Ratcliff Highway), a road in the East End of London * The Highway, a road in Br ...

then run eastwards, including a stretch through the Limehouse Link tunnel, to the Canary Wharf district before returning through Wapping to cross Tower Bridge. Runners then route through Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays and Deptford to finish by the '' Cutty Sark'' in Greenwich.Person, Rick (2020-03-02)
The Big Half: race report
''Runners World''. Retrieved 2020-03-04. Finish area facilities are accommodated in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and Queen's House and in Greenwich Park. The 2023 event attracted over 16,000 runners, and was also the official British Athletics trial race for the

2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships The 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships are scheduled to take place in Riga, Latvia, on . As the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships, they will include the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, which were las ...

. Retrieved 4 September 2022. The Big Mile is a free mass participation event using the same finishing stretch as The Big Half.

Records

Mo FarahMo Farah claims inaugural 'Big Half' win
BBC Sport (2018-03-04). Retrieved 2020-03-04.Big Half 2019: Mo Farah wins last race before London Marathon
BBC Sport (2019-03-10). Retrieved 2020-03-04. and

Charlotte Purdue Charlotte Purdue (born 10 June 1991) is a British long-distance runner who competes in the Marathon and Half Marathon, as well as cross country running for Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletics Club. After winning a number of youth titles ...

are respectively both three-time winners of the elite men's and elite women's categories of the event. The men's course record holder is Kenenisa Bekele;The Vitality Big Half 2020: Kenenisa Bekele breaks Mo Farah's course record
BBC Sport (2020-03-01). Retrieved 2020-03-04. the women's course record holder is

Eilish McColgan Eilish McColgan (born 25 November 1990) is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres champion with the Games record, and 5000 metres silver medallist. McColgan is a four-time European Champio ...

Editions

Gallery

File:Mo Farah, Bashir Abdi and Daniel Wanjiru, 2019 London Half Marathon, 10 March 2019.jpg, Mo Farah,

Bashir Abdi Bashir Abdi (born 10 February 1989) is a Somali-born Belgian athlete who specializes in long-distance running. He won bronze medals in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Championships. In doing so, Abdi became both the fir ...

and

Daniel Wanjiru Daniel Kinyua Wanjiru (born 26 May 1992) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He won both the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon and the 2017 London Marathon. His personal best time for the marathon is 2:05:21, set in Amsterdam in 2016. Early life Wanj ...

compete in the 2019 Big Half, finishing in that order File:Charlotte Purdue.jpg,

heading to victory in 2019 Big Half File:Lily Partridge.jpg, Winner in 2020, Lily Partridge in the 2019 Big Half File:Runners walking towards Tower Bridge before 2023 Big Half.jpg, Runners walking northwards towards

before 2023 Big Half File:'Runners only' sign for Big Half on Tower Bridge.jpg, Big Half 'Runners only' sign on Tower Bridge File:Greenwich Park being used for 2023 Big Half.jpg, Greenwich Park being used for 2023 Big Half ( Canary Wharf district in background)

References

External links