The Valencia Half Marathon is, alongside its big sister the Marathon, one of the true heavyweights of road running. It still holds the women’s world record (an out-of-this-world run from Letesenbet Gidey) and, back in the day, the men’s too (courtesy of the great Yomif Kejelcha, who has since smashed it himself in Buenos Aires and looks set to tear up the Valencia Marathon in December). But it’s not just the elites who fly here: for us club runners and weekend warriors it’s the perfect shot at a shiny new PB.
A pancake-flat course, an organisation that bends over backwards so all you have to think about is running, and a cracking atmosphere both in the field and along the roadside make the Valencia Half Marathon every PB-hunter’s wildest dream. Here I’ll walk you through everything you’ll come across on race day in this attempt at a guide: a km-by-km course breakdown, race strategy, assorted tips…
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Updated on 6 October with all the latest for the 2026 edition
Race info: start times, bib, services
Location: Valencia
Start times: Sunday 25 October (8.25am)
- 8.25: sub-1:11 · 1:16 · 1:20
- 8.30: sub-1:26
- 8.35: sub-1:34
- 8.48: sub-1:43
- 9.01: sub-1:50
- 9.14: sub-1:55
- 9.27: 1:55+
Distance: 21.097 km (certified)
PB-friendly? Yes
Start pens
- Pen 1: sub-1:11
- Pen 2: sub-1:16
- Pen 3: sub-1:20
- Pen 4: sub-1:26
- Pen 5: sub-1:34
- Pen 6: sub-1:43
- Pen 7: sub-1:50
- Pen 8: sub-1:58
- Pen 9: 1:58+
Course map
Race rules
Race guide
Cut-off: 2:45
Drinks stations:
- Km 5.4: drinks
- Km 10.4: drinks
- Km 15.2: gels
- Km 15.5: drinks
- Km 19.4: drinks
- Finish: drinks + food
Pacers: 1:24 · 1:30 · 1:40 · 1:45 · 2:00 · 2:15
Services: Race guide, showers, on-course medical support, pacers, bag drop (paid, limited places), medal and finisher T-shirt.
App: Android · Apple
The Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso is a road race over 21.097 km (certified by the RFEA and World Athletics) held in Valencia (Valencian Community, Spain). Organised by SD Correcaminos and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, it holds World Athletics Platinum Label status. Its course is extremely flat and fast (just 16.7 metres of total elevation gain), running along major thoroughfares such as Avenida de los Naranjos (start and finish), Bulevar Periférico Norte, Gran Vía Fernando el Católico, Ciutat Vella, Paseo de la Alameda and the old fishing quarter of El Cabañal.
Tips Valencia Half Marathon
Photo: Valencia Half Marathon
PB at the Valencia Half Marathon? Absolutely: it’s the day, the course, the organisation…
And, obviously, provided you’ve put the miles in. But to me this is one of those ‘this is D-Day’ races where you get to show off all that hard graft and see it pay off in a time that would be tough to beat anywhere else. The course is 95% pancake-flat; in that department only the Seville Half can give it a run for its money and, flying the flag for home, the Mitja del Vendrell and the Mitja Dani Maresme.
But it’s not just about the profile and the lack of hills. To stand out from the crowd a race needs a lot more than kind topography: a well-run system of start pens and waves, a start that’s properly wide from the gun, a tight-knit group of pacers who know this race and its big sister inside out, a huge pack of runners around you chasing the same target so you’re never left battling the elements on your own or wrestling with the usual mid-race wobbles, and drinks stations (long, clearly marked and well laid out; oh, and water in bottles!) that cost you as little time as possible… Honestly, they lay it all on so the only thing you have to think about is running (and running fast).
Race strategy for the Valencia Half Marathon? It’s a lock-in-your-pace kind of race, but…
…But I reckon km 10 is where you can roll the dice, because although the profile is barely there the whole way round, it’s in the second half that it feels a touch kinder (there’s a real sense of a very slight downhill), as long as the wind doesn’t turn against you, and bearing in mind the field will have thinned out and you’ll have a bit more room to run.
In other words, you can run on feel through the first half without clawing back seconds in agony, then flip the switch and take a few more risks in the second half for a negative split. That said, locking into dead-even km splits is a perfectly sound option too.
Course analysis
1 Virtually flat profile.
Just 16.7 metres of elevation gain over 21 km means you’ll barely notice even the slightest rise (and there is one). The highest point comes around km 6.8 (Menéndez Pidal at the junction with Gran Vía de Fernando el Católico) and the lowest, naturally, on the final stretch through El Cabañal.
Photo: Valencia Half Marathon
2 A really wide start.
The start straight on Avenida de los Naranjos is very roomy, and the pens are usually so generous you won’t feel hemmed in. After the first turn and up to km 2 along Bulevar Periférico Norte, you’ve got a nice wide road to run on: not 100% comfortable (impossible in a race this big, although the wave starts help loads), but without much in the way of bottlenecks.
3 The twistiest bit: the city centre
From km 12 to 13 you get one of the prettiest stretches, through the old town, threading together one iconic street after another. None of it slows you down, not least because by then the race is well and truly flowing.
Photo: Valencia Half Marathon
4 From km 14, properly quick.
Look, 99% of this course is quick. But from the Puerta del Mar roundabout onwards (as long as the wind is behind you or there’s none at all) it’s a good marker to say «right, time to push on a bit», since there’s a very slight downhill. Mind you, once you land in El Cabañal it’s dead flat again.
5 A seriously long home straight.
A full km down Avenida de los Naranjos, the kind of finishing straight where, if you kick too early, you’ll pay for it before the line.
6 The wind
It mainly comes into play (for better or worse) over the first two km, along the Alameda and in the last third of the race.
7 Pacers: only a few target times, but top-notch work
The pacers tend to be seasoned runners with plenty of Halfs and Marathons here under their belts. They know every inch of the course and all its secrets. Bear in mind, though, that there’ll be a huge bus of runners around each of them; my advice is to sit a sensible distance behind (about 50 metres) for the first few km so you can run a bit more comfortably.
Photo: Valencia Half Marathon
8 Brilliant drinks stations
Designed so you lose as little time as possible: they’re really long, with loads of volunteers handing out water (in 33 cl bottles) and isotonic drink (in cups). There are four drinks stations and one gel station. The gel station is set apart (km 15.2), about 300 metres before the third drinks station, so you’ve got time to get the gel down and then wash it down.
Course Valencia Half Marathon
Green: Easy (flat or downhill) Amber: Moderate (short rises, tricky sections) Red: Hard (tough climbs)
1 The start and first few metres
Start to km 2
It’s not as spectacular a start as its big sister the Marathon, but I’d say it’s actually a bit easier in terms of getting into your pen and how the pens are laid out. The Half kicks off on Avenida de los Naranjos, but straight after the gun you reach the Torre de Miramar roundabout, hang a right and join Bulevar Periférico Norte, an avenue as wide as it is soulless, but one that lets you get stuck in from the off. These first two km are for finding your spot in the pack and dialling in your race pace. Keep an eye on the wind, though: you’ll get a taste here of what might be waiting for you on other parts of the course.
2 Benimaclet and Trinitat
Km 2 to 4.3
Now we’re into the neighbourhoods, which those of us who love a bit of roadside atmosphere really appreciate (even more so here in Valencia, where the locals are well up for cheering you on). Alfahuir, Primado Reig and Botánico Cabanillas are three straights, the first two nice and long, with nothing tricky about them, although the road narrows a touch compared with the first two km.
3 Out along the Turia riverbed
Km 4.3 to 6.8
Perhaps the toughest section of the race is in this legendary spot that holds great memories for runners (whether because the Marathon passes through, or because the old riverbed has become one of the most famous training grounds in Spain and beyond). It also tends to draw a decent crowd, since you can watch the runners go past at both km 4 and km 11. It’s exposed to the wind if it decides to show up, and finishes with a drag just before you hit the Ademuz bridge.
4 Loop round the centre back to the Turia
Km 6.8 to 11.5
This section is made up of three avenues. The first, Fernando el Católico, feels really quick, especially when you remember that in the Marathon you run it the other way round with 30 km already in your legs… Then it’s time to ‘climb’ (so to speak, the gradient is tiny) along Guillem de Castro until you rejoin the Turia riverbed and, from there, make your way to the Puente del Real. No dramas at all.
5 Ciutat Vella to Puerta del Mar
Km 11.5 to 13.9
A gorgeous stretch stringing street after street together, which means turn after turn, though in principle none of them slow you down, apart from the odd runner who decides to cut the corner across the pavement and steps right in front of you. Then you pop out by the Estació del Nord and the bullring, with the whole of the pancake-flat Avenida Colón ahead to keep the legs ticking over nicely.
6 Down the Alameda to El Cabañal
Km 13.9 to 18
From Puerta del Mar we hook back up with the Turia riverbed, running along Jacinto Benavente and the Paseo de la Alameda (linked by the Puente del Reino), a stretch that has always felt to me like the key moment of the race, because it begs you to put your foot down if you’re feeling good. Mind you, the wind might well be a factor here, so you’ll need to adjust your pace depending on which way it’s blowing. Then we head for El Cabañal along two long straights (Menorca/Baleares and Juan Verdaguer) to let the legs keep spinning like a windmill.
7 El Cabañal
Km 18 to 20
Two lovely km that come right at the start of the Marathon but here catch you when you’re already hanging on. It’s a dead-flat stretch through the old fishing quarter where the wind can make or break your race, so get your head in the right place to either a) make the most of it if it’s a tailwind or b) not overcook it until you reach the home straight on Avenida de los Naranjos.
8 To the finish
Km 20 to 21.097
A whopping km of completely flat home straight, with your nearest and dearest and thousands of others lining the road, giving you one last roar to empty the tank. Just don’t go off like a rocket at the start of it, because it’s a long one: better to build into it and finish with a smile (for the photos) and a cracking time (for Strava) after a race enjoyed and executed to perfection.
FAQs Valencia Half Marathon
! Where are the start and finish of the Valencia Half Marathon?
Both the start area and the finish line are on Avenida de los Naranjos, next to the university campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Universitat de València (UV).
! What time does the race start and how do the start pens work?
It’s a wave start, running from 08:25 to 09:27, across 9 start pens allocated according to each runner’s verified qualifying time.
! Where are the drinks stations on the course?
There are drinks stations at km 5.4, 10.4, 15.5 and 19.4. On top of that, there’s a separate energy gel station at km 15.2, about 300 metres before the water point.
! Is it a flat, certified course for chasing a PB?
Yes, the course has just 16.7 metres of total elevation gain and is officially certified by the RFEA and World Athletics, making it one of the fastest half marathon courses in the world.
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