half-marathon

noun

half-mar·​a·​thon ˈhaf-ˈmer-ə-ˌthän 

-ˈma-rə-

plural half-marathons

: a footrace run on an open course that is half the distance of a marathon (13 miles, 192.5 yards, or 21.1 kilometers)

Then, in late September, … Goucher ran a U.S. best in the half-marathon, beating the women's marathon world-record holder, Britain's Paula Radcliffe, by nearly a minute.

—Alexander Wolff

Having just completed a half-marathon in the UK's Great North Run on Tyneside, I was surprised to find that my legs felt stiffer two days after the event than they were the following day.

—Melanie Trickett

Examples of half-marathon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Would Evenepoel, who ran a half-marathon in 87 minutes as a 16-year-old, and who would have been the best bike rider in the field by a distance, have had an outside shot at a duathlon medal? —Jacob Whitehead, The Athletic, 13 Aug. 2024

The couple from Tupelo, Miss., — longtime teachers who have run 19 half-marathons together — had planned to run the marathon together in November. —Emily Palmer, People.com, 28 Oct. 2024

The marathon and half-marathon will both start at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6, though road closures will go into effect earlier that morning. —Maia Pandey, Journal Sentinel, 2 Oct. 2024

The next marathon race is set for the weekend of Jan. 30, with a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and a separate kids race all scheduled for that block of days. —Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 10 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above