# Lille Half Marathon

The Lille Métropole Half Marathon (French: Semi-Marathon de Lille Métropole) is an annual half marathon foot race which takes place in Lille, France, in early September. First organised by the Association de Promotion des Événements Lillois in 1986, the race began as a marathon event before switching to the shorter distance in 1996. The course of the race begins in the Boulevard de la Liberté and finishes at the front of Lille's city hall on Rue de Paris.
The French Half Marathon Championships were held concurrently with the final edition of the marathon race in 1995. Bruno Leger was the men's winner with a time of 1:02:31 while Christine Mallo took the women's title in 1:12:05. The half marathon race has delivered some fast winning times – the 2009 race saw the top three men run under an hour and Mary Keitany ran the seventh quickest run ever to become the women's race winner. The men's course record of 59:05, set by Ezekiel Chebii in 2012, is the fastest ever recorded for the distance in France.
In addition to the half and full marathon, the Lille Half Marathon also hosted an elite 5K run and 10K run starting in 2023.

## Past winners

Key:  Course record

### Marathon

| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| 1st | 1986 | Jacques Boxberger (FRA) | 2:14:16 | Chantal Langlacé (FRA) | 2:33:58 |
| 2nd | 1987 | Luis Soares (FRA) | 2:14:41 | Chantal Langlacé (FRA) | 2:41:43 |
| 3rd | 1988 | Helmuth Stuhlpfarrer (AUT) | 2:13:08 | Fabiola Oppliger (COL) | 2:42:25 |
| 4th | 1989 | Jean-Pierre Pietrement (FRA) | 2:14:11 | Brigitte Olive (FRA) | 2:45:15 |
| 5th | 1990 | Alexandre Rachide (FRA) | 2:14:51 | Fabiola Oppliger (COL) | 2:37:46 |
| 6th | 1991 | Elisio Rios (POR) | 2:17:45 | Lutsia Belyayeva (RUS) | 2:42:38 |
| 7th | 1992 | Gyula Borka (HUN) | 2:13:15 | Lutsia Belyayeva (RUS) | 2:35:46 |
| 8th | 1993 | Csaba Szűcs (HUN) | 2:14:24 | Alevtina Naumova (RUS) | 2:36:50 |
| 9th | 1994 | El Hadi Moumou (FRA) | 2:14:53 | Lutsia Belyayeva (RUS) | 2:43:55 |
| 10th | 1995 | Ronny Ligneel (BEL) | 2:14:48 | Yelena Sipatova (RUS) | 2:36:21 |

### Half marathon

| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| 1st | 1996 | Jean-Paul Gahimbaré (BDI) | 1:02:11 | Annette Sergent (FRA) | 1:11:21 |
| 2nd | 1997 | John Gwako (KEN) | 1:01:10 | Jackline Torori (KEN) | 1:11:26 |
| 3rd | 1998 | Joseph Kibor (KEN) | 1:01:46 | Anne Njeri (KEN) | 1:12:43 |
| 4th | 1999 | Phaustin Baha Sulle (TAN) | 1:00:38 | Zahia Dahmani (FRA) | 1:12:38 |
| 5th | 2000 | Abdellah Béhar (FRA) | 1:01:30 | Nuța Olaru (ROM) | 1:11:08 |
| 6th | 2001 | Driss El Himer (FRA) | 1:02:08 | Hafida Gadi (FRA) | 1:13:16 |
| 7th | 2002 | Robert Cheboror (KEN) | 1:01:42 | Anastasia Ndereba (KEN) | 1:11:45 |
| 8th | 2003 | Wilson Onsare (KEN) | 1:00:52 | Magdaline Chemjor (KEN) | 1:09:39 |
| 9th | 2004 | Duncan Kibet (KEN) | 1:01:01 | Lenah Cheruiyot (KEN) | 1:10:15 |
| 10th | 2005 | James Theuri (KEN) | 1:00:54 | Merima Denboba (ETH) | 1:11:37 |
| 11th | 2006 | Joseph Maregu (KEN) | 1:01:20 | Meriem Wangari (KEN) | 1:11:36 |
| 12th | 2007 | Joseph Maregu (KEN) | 59:45 | Mary Keitany (KEN) | 1:08:43 |
| 13th | 2008 | Tilahun Regassa (ETH) | 59:36 | Tigist Tufa (ETH) | 1:11:42 |
| 14th | 2009 | Stephen Kibiwott (KEN) | 59:37 | Mary Keitany (KEN) | 1:07:00 |
| 15th | 2010 | Wilson Kiprop (KEN) | 59:34 | Florence Kiplagat (KEN) | 1:07:40 |
| 16th | 2011 | Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) | 1:00:02 | Valentine Kipketer (KEN) | 1:08:21 |
| 17th | 2012 | Ezekiel Chebii (KEN) | 59:05 | Flomena Chepchirchir (KEN) | 1:08:06 |
| 18th | 2013 | Vincent Kipruto (KEN) | 1:00:39 | Diana Sigei (KEN) | 1:10:14 |
| 19th | 2014 | Mark Korir (KEN) | 1:00:49 | Rael Kinyara (KEN) | 1:09:29 |
| 20th | 2015 | Stephen Chebogut (KEN) | 1:00:19 | Peninah Arusei (KEN) | 1:08:56 |
| | 2016 | Did not held | Did not held | Did not held | Did not held |
| 21st | 2017 | Vincent Kipsang (KEN) | 59:27 | Gladys Chesir (KEN) | 1:07:49 |
| 22nd | 2018 | Victor Chumo (KEN) | 1:00:03 | Antonina Kwambai (KEN) | 1:09:44 |
| 23rd | 2019 | Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) | 59:31 | Diana Kipyokei (KEN) | 1:09:45 |
| – | 2020 | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. |
| – | 2021 | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in France. |
| 24th | 2022 | Andrew Kwemoi (UGA) | 59:37 | Zenebu Fikadu (ETH) | 1:06:57 |

## Statistics

   * Note: Data for half marathon race only