Exciting elite field for Copenhagen Half

On Sunday, September 14, more than 32,000 runners will line up for the start of CPH Half, led by an exciting elite field.

Despite coinciding with the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo, Sunday’s Copenhagen Half Marathon still features a world-class field. A quick glance at this season’s best list says it all: four of the seven fastest men are heading to the Danish capital, where a flat and fast course has regularly produced remarkable times since the event’s debut in 2015 — most notably Geoffrey Kamworor’s world record of 58:01 set in 2019.

The second-fastest man this season, Gilbert Kiprotich (KEN), made an astonishing half marathon debut in March, winning in Málaga with a time of 58:27. The runner-up in that race, compatriot Patrick Mosin (58:44), will join him in Copenhagen.

However, a third Kenyan, Isaia Kipkoech Lasoi, may prove to be even stronger. At last year’s CPH Half, the 25-year-old Lasoi finished third in 58:10 — just five seconds shy of victory. In April this year, he was runner-up in Prague with a time of 58:56 — his fourth sub-59 performance since February 2024.

Only twice (in 2021 and 2022) has an Ethiopian runner won the men’s race. A strong contender for a third Ethiopian victory is Gemechu Dida, who dominated the Berlin Half Marathon in April, missing the race record of 58:42 by just one second.

From a European perspective, attention will be on Patrick Dever. Having already clocked 60:11 and 60:19 this year in Houston and New York, respectively, the 29-year-old Lancastrian could become just the second Briton ever to break the one-hour barrier.

For local fans, Joel Ibler Lillesø’s half marathon debut is highly anticipated. After struggling with injuries, the 21-year-old Dane won the 10,000m at the European U23 Championships in Bergen in July. Just last month, he set a national record in the 5000m — and now hopes to end his season on a high.

The women’s race also features two major stars on the starting line. Joyciline Jepkosgei began her season by winning the Barcelona Half Marathon in 1:04:13 — a time that ranks her 7th on the all-time list. Two months later, the 31-year-old Kenyan claimed third place at the London Marathon. She now returns to the half marathon distance, where she won silver at the 2018 World Championships in Valencia.

Jepkosgei’s compatriot, Sharon Lokedi, boasts victories at the New York (2022) and Boston (2025) Major Marathons. In the latter, she even set a race record of 2:17:22. Just a month earlier, she also triumphed at the New York Half Marathon.

Also in the star-studded line-up is Likina Amebaw. The Ethiopian is the fifth-fastest woman this season at both 5K (14:33) and 10K (29:40). Other notable names include Belgium’s Chloé Herbiet, who was crowned European Half Marathon Champion on home soil in May, and 40-year-old American Keira D’Amato, winner of the 2022 Houston Marathon.

Hoping for more record-breaking performances, the organizers could already celebrate one milestone last year, when all 32,000 start numbers sold out just two hours and 20 minutes after registration opened.