History of the Belfast City Marathon  

 

Photo credit: Ian Finn (1982)

The Belfast City Marathon first launched in 1982 with 3,021 taking part in a marathon only event. The marathon course started at the old Maysfield Leisure Centre and Greg Hannon was the winner in a time of 2:20:25. Sue Boreham was the first woman across the line in a time of 3:11:26. The event would take place on May Day Bank Holiday Monday each year.

1982 - the marathon only event launched

1989 - the Team Relay event is introduced for teams of 2-5 runners, generating over £1.1M annually for local charities

1997 - the 8 Mile Walk and Fun Run events are introduced making the event the largest mass sport participatory event in Northern Ireland

2013 - the Half Marathon September event is launched 

2019 - the Marathon, Team Relay, Walk and Fun Run events take place on a Sunday for the first time ever

2020 - all events are cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2022 - the Belfast City Marathon celebrates it's 40th year

2023 - the Belfast City Half Marathon celebrates its 10th year, and the Belfast City Women's 10K is launched