Boulogne-Billancourt_Half_Marathon
The Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon (French: Semi-marathon de Boulogne-Billancourt) is an annual road running event over the half marathon distance which takes place in November in Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
The event was first organised in 1997 by the Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt. The race steadily increased in size in its first years, attaining 1000 entrants by 2000 and doubling this number three years later. The Fédération française d'athlétisme classed it as a national level race in 2006 and following the participation of 4000 runners from 26 countries, it was raised to international race status the following year.[1]
At the 2008 edition, Kenyan Nicholas Manza ran a race record time of 1:00:12 hours. A year later, Ethiopia's Firehiwot Dado became the first woman to complete the distance in under one hour and ten minutes, setting the women's course record of 1:09:26 hours.[1] The 2011 race was the first run with IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status, marking it as one of the foremost races of its kind.[2]
The course for the race is a looped circuit that starts and finishes at the town hall. It follows a clockwise route along the river Seine, passing the Sèvres - Cité de la céramique, Pont de Saint-Cloud. It heads north towards the Longchamp Racecourse and has a short loop through the Bois de Boulogne, where it reaches the halfway mark. At this point the course loops back on itself and follows the Seine in a southerly direction until it finally ends up at the town hall finish point.[3]
