20 km of Brussels
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The 20 km of Brussels (French: 20 km de Bruxelles, Dutch: 20 km door Brussel) is a 20.1 km race that has been held each year in Brussels since 1981, usually in May. It has a maximum number of 25,000 entries, which are normally sold out quite quickly after places go on sale in March.
The race is a major event in Brussels, with a huge turnout of supporters. The course is quite challenging for newcomers, particularly due to the gentle, and largely invisible, climb that covers most of the first seven kilometres. The biggest drawback of the event is the organisation of the start, namely two bottlenecks, where the 25,000 participants have to squeeze through the Cinquantenaire arches and then two comparatively small gateways. Apart from this, and the surprise experienced by tired runners finding the 20 km marker 100 m away from the finish, it is a very popular event, proven by the speed with which the places are snapped up every year.
