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.
In the email, Lebron, himself a runner who completed last weekend’s race, mentioned the cardiac arrest death of David Reichman during the 2022 half-marathon. Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 22 May 2025 May 17 has been identified Charles Rogers was 31 Rogers once played college football for the University of Minnesota A runner who died after running a half-marathon in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 17, has been identified as Charles Rogers. Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 21 May 2025 The Deckers Brands label has been one of the official partners for the Hackney Half for the last three years, an annual half-marathon held in the London borough of Hackney. Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 15 May 2025 During a Southern California heat wave last September, a 35-year-old runner died of cardiac arrest after crossing the finish line at a Disneyland half-marathon. Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 14 May 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 4 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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