A record edition of the Brussels Airport Marathon & Half Marathon attracted 18,500 runners and loads of spectators to the capital. They thoroughly enjoyed the new course that included numerous Brussels highlights. The final victory in the marathon went to the Ethiopian Belayneh and Romo from the US, the half marathon had two Belgian winners.
A stunning new course awaited the runners this year, starting in the city centre, passing through 10 Brussels municipalities, stretches through various parks, a lap around the track of the King Baudouin Stadium and finishing on the Place des Palais at King Philippe’s front door. The better city tour of the capital, but without a hop-on hop-off bus, purely under your own steam.
The course and attraction of the European capital lured a record number of participants, from Belgium but equally from faraway places. The half marathon drew 10,000 fans, the marathon 3,000. Add to that 2,000 for the 7k, another 300 children for the 1km Persil Kids Run and 3,200 participants in the Race for the Cure by Think Pink. All together they accounted for 18,500 participants. They brought a lot of followers and supporters with them, but the people of Brussels also came out to watch the spectacle pass by their own houses. The Place des Palais was buzzing with supporters.
They saw the Ethiopian Solomon Belayneh get lauded on his marathon debut. With a time of 2:22.53, he eventually left quite a distance between himself and triathlete Sam Gabriëls (2:26.14) who had made a strong start. Another Belgian, Benoit Haegeman (2:28.17), completed the podium. American Liz Romo ran unchallenged to victory in the women’s race in 2:51.28. She maintained a generous lead at the Royal Palace over Britain’s Helena Sexton (3:07.34) and Stéphanie Granier from France (3:09.07).
The half marathon was right up Amaury Paquet’s alley, three-time winner of the 20km through Brussels. He finished in 1:05.28. The 23-year-old from Liège ran alongside Burundian Patrick Nimubona for a long time, but Paquet shook him off as he ran out of the Cinquantenaire Tunnel and finished with a lead of 18 seconds. Another Burundian, Lin Ndayifukamiye, finished third (1:07.22).
Among the women, victory went to Valentine Mathy (1:16.29) with a wide lead over number two, Lotte Vonck (1:21.12) and Mathilde Deswaef (1:21.56), last year’s winner.
“It was a particularly successful edition of the Brussels Airport Marathon & Half Marathon welcoming no fewer than 18,500 participants, including a record number of participants from our airport community with 739 entries from 21 companies. It was once again an international running festival with more than 100 nationalities and a unique course through Brussels. We are also very happy that, thanks to the runners, we can support the Demoucelle Parkinson Charity with a nice contribution to the fight against Parkinson’s,” said Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company.
