I Came for a Long Run and Left with a Time I'm Proud Of

I came to the 19th Persil Sarajevo Half Marathon, on Sunday 13 September 2026, without a target time. No maths for a personal best, no plan for the last five kilometres.

I wanted two things from that Sunday: a solid long run on closed city streets and a few good songs at the aid stations. I had no intention of rushing past those.

I crossed the line in 1:42 and a few seconds. This is the story of those 21.1 kilometres, and of why I think you should be on the start line of the Sarajevo Half Marathon next year.

01The Sarajevo Half Marathon course: fast and flat, not postcard cobblestones

The Sarajevo Half Marathon course is flat and fast, and that is the most important thing to know if you are thinking about a personal best.

Before the race, out of pure runner's curiosity, I read how foreign race calendars describe it. A good part of the internet runs a different, imaginary race: over the cobblestones of Baščaršija, past the Latin Bridge and uphill towards Koševo. Some even give it the wrong date.

The official course of the Marathon Sarajevo association looks completely different, and is much kinder to the legs. Asphalt, wide city roads and a route that goes like this:

1. Start on Zmaja od Bosne, in front of Marijin Dvor
2. Meša Selimović Boulevard and Malta
3. Azize Šaćirbegović and Wilson's Promenade along the Miljacka
4. Ložionička, Topal Osman-pašina and Zvornička, which becomes Ivica Osim Boulevard
5. Back through Grbavička, Zagrebačka and Vrbanja
6. Franca Lehara and the finish on Zmaja od Bosne

The course is measured and certified by World Athletics and AIMS. That means a time from the Sarajevo Half Marathon counts without footnotes, for qualifying, rankings and your Strava profile.

My advice: don't trust the postcard description, trust the organiser. If you are looking for a regional half marathon for a PR, this is a serious candidate.

02Saturday at Skenderija: when the bib is finally in your hands

As with every serious race, Saturday was half the job. Race packs were collected at the Skenderija Centre, entrances A1 and A2 East, from nine in the morning to nine in the evening.

It is the part of a race weekend I love most. The bib is finally in your hands, and around you people compare shoes, gels and stories from earlier races. The city slowly starts to live to the rhythm of the next day's start.

The pack had everything you expect today from a regional race of this level:

• a chip bib and official timing
• a Dri-Fit T-shirt
• a finisher's medal
• photos from the course
• sponsor gifts and a concert after the race

The half marathon is the centrepiece of the Sarajevo Run Fest. The same weekend saw the Sarajevo 5K, the Fun Run and the Crvena jabuka market Bambini marathon, where the youngest runners ran along Ferhadija on Saturday. The organisers announced more than 3,000 runners from 50 countries, so the city centre felt like a festival with room for every distance and every generation.

03Race day: 21.1 km, seven aid stations and one more chorus

Start at 8:30 in front of Marijin Dvor

We started at 8:30, with a three-hour limit after which the roads reopen. I set off with a watch on my wrist, but with no intention of letting it decide my mood.

That left room to notice what I love about races like this. The people along the course, the rhythm of other runners' steps and a Sarajevo we usually cross by car, by tram or in a hurry.

Aid stations: worth slowing down for

The aid stations were at 4.1, 7.0, 9.0, 10.7, 14.8, 17.6 and 19.6 km. That is one roughly every three kilometres, a density I rarely see at regional races.

At the stations where Halid's songs rang out of the speakers, an aid station did more than hand out water. In a few seconds it lifted my mood, took my mind off the fatigue and reminded me that I had come for the fun too, not just the kilometres.

I slowed down exactly as much as I needed to catch the chorus. Then I carried on, with a little more energy than I had a hundred metres earlier.

An early start is half the job

Maximum temperatures on this date in recent years have ranged from 19 to 31 degrees. That is why the 8:30 start is a big advantage: you run the first ten kilometres in shade and morning cool.

The sun only catches you at the end, as you head back through Grbavica and Vrbanja towards Marijin Dvor. Just when your legs start to complain.

With no time goal, I ran by feel. I enjoyed it while it was easy and accepted the effort when it got harder, because twenty-one kilometres are still twenty-one kilometres, however good the music.

The finish and the time: 1:42

On the final stretch towards Zmaja od Bosne the crowd thickened again. It brought the kind of energy you can never recreate on a solo training run.

When I crossed the line and stopped my watch, it showed 1:42 and a few seconds. That is an average of about 4:50 per kilometre, a result I hadn't aimed for, but one that sat nicely on a morning when I came for a long run.

Training with Run Culture

That time didn't come out of nowhere either. My training for this race was done in consultation with Run Culture, a running community for training, practical advice and support. If you want help preparing for your next race, find them on Instagram.

04After the finish: shoes that earned a tattoo

After the race came the part of the day I had looked forward to almost as much as Halid at the aid stations.

Sport Vision, one of the race's official partners, had a stand where runners lingered longer than at any other exhibitor. That is where the shoes I had just run through the whole city in got a personal touch: lines, initials and small details.

What I liked most was the order of things. The shoes first did all 21.1 km through Sarajevo, with water from the aid stations, Powerade stains and dust from Wilson's Promenade. Only then did they earn their tattoo.

From ordinary gear they became a keepsake I can wear again. And a pair nobody else on the start line had.

05Sarajevo Half Marathon 2027: seven tips

If you are planning Sarajevo next season, this is what I would tell you over coffee after a run.

1. Enter early. In 2026 the early entry was 60 KM until 20 May, and last minute was 100 KM. The difference pays for dinner after the race.
2. If you live in Sarajevo, join a club. Members of the Marathon association and the Sarajevo Running Club pay 35 KM, and you get a training group too.
3. Collect your pack on Saturday and stay a while. Skenderija is a few minutes' walk from the start, and the atmosphere at bib pick-up is half the experience.
4. Run for a PR. The course is flat and certified. The first 10 km are in the shade, so save energy for the way back through Grbavica and Vrbanja, where the sun hits.
5. Don't carry water. Seven aid stations are enough. Plan gels around the stations at 7.0, 10.7 and 14.8 km, where you can wash them down straight away.
6. Prepare for a warm morning. Temperatures on this date can reach 31 degrees. A cap, anti-chafe cream and a shirt you have already tested on a long run.
7. Bring your crew. Anyone not ready for 21 km can do the Sarajevo 5K or the Fun Run, and children the Bambini marathon. You all meet at the finish.

06Useful links

• Persil Sarajevo Half Marathon, official page and rules
• Marathon Sarajevo association
• Sarajevo Run Fest 2026 programme announcement (SC Sport, in Bosnian)

The end · 21.097 km, certified course (World Athletics and AIMS)