Hargeisa Half Marathon: Nine nations at the start of the 4th edition on October 2, 2026

The Hargeisa International Half Marathon is holding its fourth edition on October 2, 2026. The race is set to start at 2 p.m. from the Hargeisa Stadium in Somaliland, with two events on the program: 21 kilometers and 5 kilometers, according to the media outlet Horn Diplomat.

Nine countries participating, five delegations already arrived

Nine nations are expected at the starting line. Delegations from Ethiopia, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, and Angola have already been welcomed at Hargeisa's Egal International Airport, reports Horn Diplomat. The Minister of Youth and Sports, Ahmed-Yasin Mohamed Farah, received the athletes, and the event was discussed during a council of ministers chaired by Vice President Mohamed Ali Aw Abdi, who is serving as interim leader of the territory.

For local authorities, the event is intended to serve as a showcase: they state they want to strengthen exchanges between local and international runners and offer athletes in the region a rare opportunity to compete against opponents from elsewhere on the continent.

A race establishing itself in the Horn's calendar

In four editions, the Hargeisa event has established itself as one of the few international athletics events organized in this part of the Horn of Africa, a region much more often discussed through its crises than its stadiums. Somaliland, a territory in northwestern Somalia whose self-proclaimed independence is not internationally recognized, sees this as a way to exist on the continent's sporting map.

The Ethiopian presence is a sporting argument in itself: as an immediate neighbor, Ethiopia is one of the two great world powers in long-distance running alongside Kenya, and its runners are expected to be the natural favorites for the 21-kilometer race.

What Africa gains by multiplying its events

Each race of this type creates a circuit that African athletes need: accessible events, close to home, which allow them to run without expensive visas or transcontinental plane tickets. It is through this density of local competitions that careers are built, long before the marathons of Berlin or London.

The rankings and times for this fourth edition will be known on the evening of October 2, 2026.