21.0975 km

Distance

≈ 85 m

Elevation Gain

≈ estimate

≈ 2:08:00

Average Finish Time

≈ estimate

≈ 27,500

Total Finishers

≈ estimate

1981

Established

Flat

Profile

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Course & Elevation

The Generali Berlin Half Marathon is a 21.0975 km road race through the centre of Berlin, starting on Strasse des 17. Juni between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column and finishing just beyond the Brandenburg Gate. It is organised by SCC Events and held on a Sunday in late March or early April, with separate races over the same distance for inline skaters, wheelchair users and handbikers. The route leads through Ernst-Reuter-Platz to Charlottenburg Palace, along Kurfurstendamm, past Potsdamer Platz and the Gendarmenmarkt, along Karl-Marx-Allee, and back to the Brandenburg Gate. The organiser traces the race to the Lichtenberg Marathon of 1981 in East Berlin, which became the Friedenslauf; SC Charlottenburg started its own Berlin half marathon on 2 September 1984, and only the half marathon distance has been run since 1990. The 2026 race was the 45th edition and had a record 42,563 registered athletes from 134 nations. The course records are 58:42 for men (Eric Kiptanui, 2018) and 1:03:35 for women (Fotyen Tesfay, 2025). The finish line sits just behind the Brandenburg Gate.

Surface: road Profile: Flat

Weather

Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record

Temperature 10°C

Humidity 67%

Rain Chance 36%

Late March and early April in Berlin are cool: average highs in April are around 15°C and lows around 4°C, with measurable rain on about eleven days in the month.

Related Guides

▸Best Half Marathons for Your First Race

The Race

Berlin

Race Lore

From the Lichtenberg Marathon to the Brandenburg Gate

1981 Origin

The Berlin Half Marathon dates its beginning to the Lichtenberg Marathon, a 42.195 km race on small roads in an East Berlin borough in 1981, with only a few hundred runners. It grew into the Friedenslauf, while in West Berlin SC Charlottenburg held the first Berliner Halbmarathon on 2 September 1984 as preparation for the Berlin Marathon. After the Wall fell, SCC took over the Friedenslauf, and from 1990 only the half marathon distance was run.

Tesfay Rewrites the Women's Record

2025 Record

In April 2025 Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia won in 1:03:35, improving the previous women's course record of 1:05:02 by more than a minute and a half. The time was the fifth fastest ever run over the half marathon distance. The men's winner that day, Gemechu Dida, missed the men's course record of 58:42 by one second.

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Course Record

00:58:42

Eric Kiptanui (2018)

Registration

Entry fee, registration dates and lottery rules are not confirmed here yet. Check the official registration page.

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Fun Facts

▸ The organiser counts the race from the 1981 Lichtenberg Marathon in East Berlin; the half marathon distance has been the only one since 1990.
▸ In 2025 Fotyen Tesfay ran 1:03:35, the women's course record and the fifth-fastest half marathon in history at the time.
▸ In 2026 Amanal Petros finished third in 59:22, breaking his own German record by nine seconds.

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