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

But on Sunday, an android outpaced the entire field to run a half-marathon faster than even the quickest human. —Chris Lau, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2026

Beijing has officially hosted its second Robot World Humanoid Robot Games half-marathon on Sunday (April 19). —Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 19 Apr. 2026

While China is poised to be at the forefront of development, this year’s half-marathon event was not without its setbacks. —Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC news, 19 Apr. 2026

Following a week of cold weather, rain, thunderstorms and even a freeze, Saturday brought bright sunshine for more than 2,000 runners aiming to conquer what organizers say is the most grueling half-marathon around. —Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 18 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for half-marathon

• agamemnon
• automaton
• diencephalon
• panopticon
• phenomenon
• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon