Marathon races near La Louvière

The Semi-Marathon de Mons begins on the Grand-Place in Mons, in front of the city hall, alongside 10 km and 5 km runs. It takes place in October and is organized by ASBL Semi-Marathon de Mons, which has staged the event since 2018. The day also features a 10 km walk, Joëlette starts, and short children’s races, functioning as a local running festival. The routes depart from the historic center, showing runners both central Mons and the surrounding countryside. The 5 km is open to participants aged 12 and up, the 10 km from age 15, and children aged 4 to 12 can run 500 m or 1 km circuits. Thousands of participants attend annually, assisted by hundreds of volunteers and pacemakers on the course. Profits benefit Télévie, and the event has already contributed tens of thousands of euros to FNRS since its inception.

The Brussels Ekiden is a 42-kilometer relay race held in Bruxelles each October. Rather than a single runner completing the entire distance, a team divides the race into segments, with runners taking turns. This format resembles a shared marathon more than an individual road race, drawing from the Japanese long-distance relay tradition of ekiden, which is centered on stage-to-stage running. The exchange of a cloth sash, known as a tasuki, between successive runners defines the ekiden. This practice originates from Japan's historical courier system, where messages were transported between stations. The modern racing adaptation traces its roots to an extended multi-day run between Kyoto and Tokyo. In Japan, ekiden is strongly associated with school, university, prefectural, and corporate teams, and the Brussels event reflects this team-racing culture over the typical mass-start marathon atmosphere.