Well-known sporting events in Denmark are held mainly in Copenhagen. The Danish capital is only a four-hour drive from Kiel.
Although Denmark has less than six million inhabitants, the country is very successful in terms of sport. Since the 1996 Summer Olympics, at least two gold medals have always been won in each event (this only applies to the Summer Games). In 2021, the Danish team won 11 medals, in 2016 as many as 15. Only in 1948 did the Danes win more medals (20). One of the two gold medals in 2016 was won by the men's national handball team. Denmark is one of the most successful and strongest nations in both the women's and men's disciplines.
On the other hand, there are no well-known Danish runners. Henrik Høve Jørgensen, for example, who died in 2019, has held the national marathon record since 1985. His time of 2:09:43 hours was quite noteworthy internationally at the time. To date, however, it has not been equalled by a Danish runner.
The biggest running events in Denmark
The most popular running events in Denmark are, of course, held in Copenhagen. In the spring, this is the Copenhagen Marathon, which is also one of the largest marathon events in Europe with almost 10,000 marathon starters. The marathon has been held annually since 1980.
One of the fastest half marathons in the world
Internationally, however, the Copenhagen Half Marathon is even better known. This race is one of the fastest half marathons in the world. In the men's race, times under 59 minutes have already been run here. In the women's category, Safan Hassan from the Netherlands even managed to set a European record in 2018 with a time of 65:15 minutes. 2019 men's world record was set. More than 20,000 runners take part in the half marathon every year.
Outside Copenhagen, there are two other beautiful marathon events, including the Aabenraa Bjergmarathon and the HCA Marathon Odense. Aabenraa is run in June, while Odense hosts many marathon runners in the autumn.
Other well-known events in Denmark are the Salomon Hammer Trail (ultra trail with up to 170 kilometres), the North Sea Beach Marathon and for triathletes the IRONMAN Copenhagen and the IRONMAN 70.3 Elsinore.
All Running Races in Denmark (sorted by date) can be found in the following overview:
Running competitions 2026 in Denmark
Go to the running calendar Denmark
More sports in Denmark:
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