The Hackney Half is an annual

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

held during the spring in the London borough of Hackney. The first event was held in 2014, with over 12,000 runners taking part. The event is London's biggest half-marathon event, with 24,000 runners taking part in the 2023 event. In 2020, the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, the event originally set to happen in May, was postponed to September 26th with a scaled back event due to the

COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom was a series of stay-at-home orders introduced by the British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, British and devolved governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom ...

. In 2023, organisers of the event were accused of “greenwashing” by

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, after the airline

Wizz Air {{Infobox airline , airline = Wizz Air Holdings Plc. , IATA = , ICAO = , callsign = , aoc = , hubs = , focus_cities = , frequent_flyer = {{ubl, class=nowrap , Wizz All You Can Fly , Wizz Discount Club , Wizz Privilege Pass , ...

sponsored the event. General entries for the 2025 event sold out in a record time of two weeks. The event's popularity has grown, with general entries for the 2026 race selling out in two days.

Course

The closed road race has a flat course that starts and finishes in Hackney Marshes, taking in Hackney Downs, Hackney Central past the Hackney Empire, Broadway Market, and Hackney Wick.

Records

Editions

References

{{reflist Half marathons in the United Kingdom Hackney, London 2014 establishments in England