More feet in the streets: Copenhagen Half sees historic turnout
From first-timers to seasoned athletes, the Copenhagen Half-Marathon is seeing unprecedented participation. We spoke to runners about what’s fueling the surge in popularity, and why running has become more than just a sport.
More than 32 thousand runners have signed up for this year's half marathon in the capital of Denmark. That is the highest number since the event's first edition in 2015. Over 44 thousand people queued for the ticket sale back in March, which sold out in record time.
Sayf Omar Saad (29) is one of those who hit the streets on Sunday. He only started running last year, after deciding to quit smoking.
He has noticed the increase in interest for running, and believes running has become especially popular in Copenhagen because of the communities in the city.
“The bakeries and the coffee places around the city make an environment for running, by inviting people to run ‘with them’. It creates these kinds of communities to be a part of.”
He doesn’t believe the running trend will go down any time soon.
“I saw someone do a run where they ate a fastelavnsbolle [Danish pastry] for every kilometer, and that concept in itself proves that you could make a running concept out of anything, and people will join.”
Simon Jacobsen (30) also ran the distance of 21.1 kilometers on Sunday. He doesn’t know where the trend of running came from, but he believes social media has contributed to the popularity.
“My hypothesis is that the younger generation has become more concerned with health and fitness, and that it has spread to all ages because of social media.”
Runner Jasmine Tesfamicael (30) has a different theory.
“At least for me, I started running because it was an easy way to socialize with other people. I believe people want to do it because it is a way to be able to catch up with friends while doing something that feels productive.”
Nicholas Kipkorir claimed the victory of this year’s race, clocking in at 58 minutes and 23 seconds.
Next year, the Copenhagen Half will be upgraded to a world championship. All entries were sold out in a lottery earlier this year, but interested runners could still be able to secure a bib number later this year in the resale portal.
