IAAF Gold Label awarded to Copenhagen Half Marathon
Photo: Pierre Mangez
As the first road race in the Nordic countries and one of the fastest half marathons in the world, the Copenhagen Half Marathon has been awarded with the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) most distinguished recognition.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
“Fully deserved – CPH Half is on par with the most prestigious races in the world,” says IAAF.
A race you want to be part of, this is the short and precise description of one of the leading road race experts, David Katz of the IAAF. Katz has supervised the Copenhagen Half Marathon and thus been through all the details and elements that have contributed to the CPH Half qualifying for this sublime league of road races. David Katz has also almost 40 years of experience as a finish line coordinator at major race events such as the New York and Boston Marathons.
”The gold is fully deserved. The Copenhagen Half Marathon is on par with the most prestigious races in the world, such as London, Berlin and New York. The CPH Half organizers have succeeded in creating an event, which the runners are proud to take part in and talk about before, during and after the race," says David Katz
The official race event partners are likewise thrilled about the new gold label and comments from Sprt Event Denmark, Wonderful Copenhagen and The Nordea Foundation can be read below.
”The CPH Half is now a part of a small exclusive group of half marathon races, that have been awarded with the IAAF’s most distinguished recognition – the Gold Label. Achieving the Gold Label has been a work in progress since 2014 when Denmark hosted the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. We are, naturally, hoping that this recognition will attract more domestic and international participants, who will contribute to creating a running festival in the heart of Copenhagen,” says Lars Lundov, CEO, Sport Event Denmark.
”It is so well deserved that the organizers and the city behind the CPH Half are rewarded with the IAAF Gold Label. The foundation was laid with the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and followed through by two successfully executed Copenhagen Half Marathons to the delight of both Danish and international runners and spectators. I am certain that the IAAF Gold Label will increase the number of international runners coming to Copenhagen and thereby securing success for many years to come,” says Lars Vallentin, Head of Events at Wonderful Copenhagen.
”We are very happy because this means that lots of recreational athletes will get the opportunity to experience an absolute world-class race!” says Henrik Lehmann Andersen, Director of Nordea-Fonden.
Finally, the organisers of the race, Sparta and The Danish Athletic Federation, commented on the awarding of the Gold Label. They were likewise delighted by the reward, though it will not stop them from keeping up with the hard work.
”We are very proud of having achieved the Gold Label over the course of just three years. It is a huge acknowledgment and bears witness to the fact that we have succeeded in creating a unique event within the Danish market. An event that proofs Copenhagen’s place among the world elite of running cities. However, the Gold Label does not mean that we will rest on our laurels. We will continue our work with, among other things, implementing new technology and involving other event players and the business community. There are still a lot of advances and victories to strive for,” according to Dorte Vibjerg, Director of Sparta.
”After the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships In 2014, we decided to work towards an annual running event of international class, a Copenhagen equivalent to the marathon majors. The Gold Label was a very ambitious goal but we achieved it. To have achieved it in the span of just three years tells a lot about the energy in the Danish running scene. We are in many ways a small country and a small market but this recognition underlines the fact that when it comes to running, Denmark can be considered a super power,” says Jakob Larsen, Director of The Danish Athletic Federation.
This press release was first published by Sport Event Denmark, in March 2017.
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