Next weekend, 12 and 13 April, our country will host the first-ever European Running Championships. Both elite runners and a mass of recreational runners will cross paths at the start of the marathon, half marathon or 10 km. In total, some 28,000 runners will descend on the host cities of Brussels and Leuven. King Philippe will be the marathon’s honorary starter on Sunday.
Until now, the European marathon title race formed part of the European track and field championships. But from now on the marathon, half marathon and 10 km road race receive their own event, separate from the stadium based disciplines, at the European Running Championships. The start list consists of elite runners as well as recreational runners, as is the case in any big city marathon.
The half marathon starts on Saturday at 10:00am at Parkpoort in Leuven and Sunday at 9:30am the 10 km runners will depart for their run at the same location. Both events largely stick to Leuven soil. The start signal for the marathon will be given Sunday at 10:15 at the Royal Palace in Brussels by none other than His Majesty the King. The 12,500 marathon runners will then set course for Leuven via Wetstraat, Berlaymont, Woluwe, Tervuren and Bertem.
For each of the three distances, the last 4km cut through the heart of Leuven’s inner city; via the Vaartkom to Bondgenotenlaan, and across the Ladeuzeplein to the ring road bridging the final 600 metres to the finish at Parkpoort.