Dublin Half Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon is a half marathon in Phoenix Park, Dublin, held on a Sunday in September and organised by Dublin Marathon Group as the closing event of the Irish Life Dublin Race Series. The first edition was run in 2002, and the race has been staged in the park since then. It starts at 9:00 on Chesterfield Avenue and finishes on Furze Road, with runners set off in waves according to their expected finish time. In 2026 the course left the park by the Castleknock Gate and ran through Castleknock, came back in by the White Gate and looped through the park, then made a U-turn at the Castleknock Gate. Runners returned along Chesterfield Avenue and Ordnance Survey Road and turned onto Furze Road for the finish. The organisers describe the route as a loop of the south side of the park, past the Wellington Monument. The cut-off is 3 hours 15 minutes from the start. The 2026 race was sold out, more than 6,500 runners finished, and it doubled as the Dublin Athletics Half Marathon Road Championships. The race series builds towards the Irish Life Dublin Marathon in October. The Dublin City Half Marathon, which starts on O'Connell Street, is a separate race held in May.