half-marathon

noun

half-mar·​a·​thon ˈhaf-ˈmer-ə-ˌthän How to pronounce half-marathon (audio)
-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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The event features a parade, half-marathon, games and celebrations near the famous Anaconda Smoke Stack – a 585-foot-tall landmark that’s taller than the Washington Monument. Holly Yan, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2025 According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the deepest underground half-marathon distance was run at a staggering depth of 11,676 feet, by Ecuadorian Millán Ludeña inside of a mine in South Africa in 2017. Owen Clarke, Outside Online, 29 July 2025 Toby Atwood, a rising senior at Thiel College and a member of the women’s tennis team, suddenly died over the weekend after collapsing during a half-marathon in Pennsylvania, school officials confirmed. Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 24 July 2025 Inspired by Diplo’s own experience of running a half-marathon in Miami and then immediately going to a club, the Diplo Run Club hosts 5Ks in cities across the country that are followed by daytime Diplo concerts. Andrew McGowan, Variety, 21 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for half-marathon

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of half-marathon was in 1932

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Cite this Entry

“Half-marathon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-marathon. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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