What is a Half marathon?
A half marathon is a road running event of 21.0975 km (13 mi 192½ yd) — half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcuts. If finisher medals are awarded, the medal or ribbon may differ from those for the full marathon. The half marathon is also known as a 21K, 21.1K or 13.1 miles, although these values are rounded and not formally correct.
A half marathon world record is officially recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The official IAAF world record for men is 58:01, set by Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya on September 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark,[4] and for women is 1:04:51, set by Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya on October 22, 2017, in Valencia, Spain. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily since 2003, partly because it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a marathon does. In 2008, Running USA reported that the half marathon is the fastest-growing type of race.
The Mexico City Half-Marathon (Spanish: Media Maratón Internacional de la Ciudad de México) is an annual road running event over the marathon distance 21.1 kilometres (13 mi 192½ yd) which is held on the streets of Mexico City in late August or early September that in 2018 received IAAF Gold Label Status. It is held concurrently with the Mexico City Marathon which was established in 1983 at a time of growing interest in marathons in the country – the Independencia Marathon had been launched three years earlier and the Monterrey Marathon had been run over the full distance in 1982. The winner of the first women’s race, María del Carmen Cárdenas, later became one of the first female Olympic marathon runners for Mexico. The competition was mostly national in nature until the turn of the 21st century, when more elite international runners began to compete, and win, at the race. Eileen Claugus of the United States was the first foreign winner in 1987, and Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Tafa became the first male foreign winner two years later. Since 2002 only one Mexican man has won the race, and no Mexican woman has won since 2010.Half-