New Dublin City Half Marathon takes place March 30th
By Brian Bowe
Last month Dublin City Council announced the official launch of the new Dublin City Half Marathon. Taking place on Sunday March 30th 2025, with a €68 entry fee, the 13.1-mile race starts on O’Connell Street and takes runners out through the north of the city, finishing back in the city centre.
“This event is the perfect opportunity to set one of your New Year’s Resolutions!” said Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain. “I look forward to supporting the runners as they take on the half-marathon challenge in our fantastic city and showing my support for their incredible efforts”.
If you haven’t booked your spot yet, it would seem you’re out of luck, as having gone on sale to the public shortly before midday on Wednesday, the 12,500 available places sold out just before 2pm. Speaking after entries for the event went on sale, race director Jim Aughney said: “We knew there was a demand for another high-quality half marathon in Dublin, and today has shown that to be true as we sold out in a couple of hours. We are aware too that given the high demand, some users experienced difficulties with registration. We will review this fully and consider options for 2026 entries.”
Registered participants will receive a finisher’s t-shirt, a medal, and have their race numbers postage covered in the entry fee. The fee is non-refundable; however, entrants have the option to pay an additional €5 for a “transfer window” from 1 February to 9 March. According to the event organizers, “entrants who opt for this will be charged €5 to cover the administration of the refund” and note that “selling or attempting to swap race numbers outside of the transfer window will result in the number being cancelled”.
The inaugural Dublin City Half Marathon, which is open to walkers, will start at 8:30 AM on O’Connell Street with the proposed route taking runners through Ballybough, Whitehall, Killester, Howth Road, Raheny, St Anne’s Park, Clontarf, Fairview Park and Seville Place, though the exact route map will be published closer to race day.
There is a €13,500 prize up for grabs for the top five finishers in both the male and female categories. While other prize funds are available for wheelchair and visually impaired winners, as well as for master categories and a non-binary category.
This event is organised by the team behind the Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Race Series, in collaboration with Dublin City Council, who are the event partners.
