History

It was widely reported in the media, and the then new jogging craze did the rest… Participants flocked to the Brussels Tourist Office to sign up. Emile and Carine had to increase their visits and telephone calls to the City of Brussels in order to obtain ever more extensive police supervision. In the end, 4179 runners finished the race at the foot of the Atomium.

The succes of the event had some serious repercussion on the city of Brussels which saw its train station and airport paralysed for a few hours as they were inaccessible.

In agreement with the authorities of Brussels City and the STIB, a new racetrack was decided upon. It would be greener, include more running space and show the most beautiful monuments of the city of Brussels to the foreign visitors.

A new magnetic card was introduced in order to measure individual racetime.

The adventure continues and still interest rises!

The edition is won by the Briton Christopher Woodhouse in 58min58 seconds.The womens champion is Nfn Van Bost in 1:13:11. The number of participants continues to rise!

The seventh edition is still a major succes. The adventure continues!

The Belgian Dirk Vanderherten wins the race in 57:50 whilst  Agnes Pardaens is the women’s champion in 1:05:23

The race is won by Steve Brace, a British athlete who completes the race in 59:17. The first woman is Francine Peeters. She is Belgian and completes the race in 1:08:03

A special 10th birthday cake had been created by runners and given to Emile and Carine for this very special anniversary.

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10.000 participants left from the avenue des Nerviens, 10.000 left from the avenue de Tervuren.

This edition took place during the festivities organised for the 40 years of reign of the King of Belgium and his 60th birthday. The racetrack was back to normal after having been reversed for the last 2 years. 54 nationalities were present.

Bracelets were introduced along the racetrack. The 148 608 bottles of SPA water were distributed and were recycled into contact lenses.

The race was won by the Kenyan Julius Ondieki in 56 minutes and 58 seconds. The first woman was the Russian Lidia Chulanova who finishes in 1 hour 06 minutes and 48 seconds.

600 volunteers join forces to increase security along the racetrack.

Race was won by Vincent Rousseau in 56 minutes and 30 seconds. The first woman was Lieve Slegers in 1:03:27.

Two new features were added to the race for the 17th edition.  An Internet site was created to summarize all the practical information.
1996 was also the year of a new record… established by Wilson Omwoyo who ran the race in 55 minutes and 41 seconds. The female record was also broken by Marleen Renders who ran in 1h03’57

With a total of 19 000 participants, the 18th edition was a great succes. Marleen Renders won the women’s title for the second year in a row. Simon Bar was the first men to cross the finish line.

This edition took place thanks to to the mobilisation of the Defense department who helped us to manage to make a track through the works in the Regency Street. The edition was almost cancelled due to the works. Thankfully it wasn’t and the edition was a great succes. The winners of the year were Ondore Osoro in 55min15 seconds and the legendary Marleen Renders, who won the women’s title for the third year in a row!  The magnetic card is used for the last time

This year was the 20th anniversary!  Various festivities were organised. A sports village was organised and many sports federations of Brussel were present. Trucks with music bands paraded through the Cinquantenaire for the start of the race. After the startshot given by Prince Laurent the runners gave it their all for a beautiful race which was eventually won by Mohammed Mourhito in 1h0’32 and by Marleen Renders in1H10’26. A barcode was introduced to replace the magnetic card.

The  21^th edition of the Brussel 20km took place in one of the worst weather conditions since its creation! The race track was shortened because of this and participants only ran 18km as the Bois de la Cambre was closed.

The year 2000 saw the start of registrations via Internet.  Over a quarter of all registrations were done online which was a great succes!

This edition was a great success with 25 000 participants registered. The organisers were obliged to accept 2000 additionnal registrations because of the numerous additionnal requests they received. Marleen Renders won the female title again in 1h10 whilst Joseph Sitiente won the men’s trophy in 1h01m23s.

On Sunday May 26th 2002, 20 000 participants gathered for the 23rd edition of the Brussels 20km. The racetrack remained unchanged and Marleen Renders won her 7th victory!

Various NGO’s were present and had created fundraising running groups. Amongst them were Médecin sans Frontières and the association of Diabetics…

Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the Brussels 20k welcomed 22 500 participants! Marleen Renders won her eight title!

On May 30th, the Brussels 20k celebrated its 25th birthday! And what better number than 25 000 participants to celebrate this anniversary! The starting area was modified and Marleen Renders won her 9th title!

The 2005 edition took place around the celebrations for 175th birthday of Belgium. For this occasion, King Philip, still a Prince at the time, gave the startingshot. The two winners of the edition were Koen Van Rie and Catherine Lallemand who took over the female title after Marleen Renders nine year winning streak.

The two winners of this year’s edition are Belgian: Rik Ceulemand and Catherine Lallemand!

25 000 people gathered for the race on the Esplanade of the Cinquantanire on Sunday May 28th.

Like the previous year, the female title goes to Catherine Lallemand, her 3rd success in a row. The Qatari Mohamed Abduh Bakket wins the male title and finishes the race in 1h00’23. The first Belgian is Rik Ceulemans. He finishes 5th in 1h01’48. With over 28 000 registrations, the start and arrival zone had to be adapted. 4000 participants took place in their starting block located in front of the arcades.  This allowed a better traffic flow for all.

The race is sold out and the success is achieved. 25.000 participants are registered!

The Belgian flag was placed by the Army on the arches. Some 27.000 participants registered for this edition. In only a few hours, the race was sold out. Seeing the disappointment of so many candidates, the organisers decided to produce 2000 extra racenumbers.

This edition saw the creation of a non refundable personnalised chip, offered by the European Commission at the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

This new disposition allow participants to enjoy better race quality

The new Internet registration website now works perfectly. A record number of nationalities is registered. The Vice President of the European Commission participates. A very warm edition with a burning hot sun!

118 nationalities were representend and a new six waves departure system was put into place. The start is now given from the Park of the Cinquantenaire and no longer from the Esplanade.

King Philip of Belgium participated at this edition, which was a great honor for our event and our organisation!

Amongst the participants, 58 VIP’s have not missed one single edition. They are living legends and know everything about the race. As true living memories of the race, their story is that of an amazing journey for which we have the utmost respect. The de Valois team wins the race in a record time of 59’05”, the world record of 2014 on a distance of 20km!

A beautifull edition marked by a record of participants and nationalities!

A beautiful edition marked by the win of Regis Thonon and the Jogging Plus Symbio team.

The start was given by H.R.H. Princess Astrid, accompanied by Prime Minister Charles Michel and the Mayor of Brussels. 40.000 runners gathered for the race and represented 133 nationalities.

The start was given by Prime Minister Charles Michel along with many personalities. 40.000 runners gathered for the race and represented 129 nationalities. The weather was hot but the organisation was well prepared with extra SPA water, and 3 queues de paon set up by the SIAMU.

The edition was won by Hassan Chahdi, team LEPAPE who finished the race in 1:02:56 . The first female was Alex Tondeur, belgian, who finished in 1:14:38. The first handbike was Tawfiq Arifi who finished the race in 00:38:36 . The teamchallenge was won by JOGGING PLUS

The start was given by His Majesty the King. 40.000 participants were registered, representing 137 nationalities. The weather was perfect for runners. The 40th edition generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst the participants. Over 650 teams were present, an all time record.

The winners:

Valentin Poncelet, in 1:00:34
Alex Tondeur, in 1:13:04
Robby Heyligen, handbike in 00:43:53
The team challenge was won by LADBROKES.BE

The global COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us from organising the “20 km of Brussels”

After this difficult period for all due to the pandemic, we had the joy of being able to organize the 41^st edition of the “20 km of Brussels”, this time exceptionally in September. This is the first big event that took place after the health crisis, to everyone’s happiness. It also allowed us to welcome a new category of participants: “walkers”.

HM the Queen did us the honour of being our best ambassador… From now on, walkers are part of this sports festival.

The winners:

Amaury Paquet, in 00:59:31
Florence De Cock, in 01:09:50

After the autumn edition of 2021, this 42^ème edition returned to the traditional “last Sunday in May”. HM The Queen and HRH Prince Emmanuel took part in this great celebration of sport in the streets of the capital.

The winners:

Amaury Paquet, in 01:00:01
Sophie Wood, in 01:11:11

Amaury Paquet wins Belgium’s biggest race for the third time in a row; a first in the history of the “20 km of Brussels”. Alongside him, more than 40,000 participants crossed the capital, including HM The Queen and HRH Prince Emmanuel. This year’s race saw the introduction of reusable cups at the refreshment stations.

The winners:

Amaury Paquet, in 01:00:15
Hanna Vandenbussche, in 01:10:44

Record participation for the 44th edition of Belgium’s biggest sporting event!
45,350 participants crossed the finish line after 20 kilometres in the capital.

The winners:

Alex Kibet, in 00:59:57
Sophie Hardy, in 01:10:56