[2] Kenyan runners have been very successful in the competition, accounting for over half of the total winners, with Tegla Loroupe taking the honours in the women's race on six separate occasions.

The course for the mass participation race, which has attracted almost 30,000 runners in previous years, remained unchanged and begins by crossing the Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge before linking up with the new elite course.

[5][6] The current elite course of the half marathon begins in a small town on the north bank of the Tagus, no longer crossing the bridge,[7] and the course is wide and flat from there on.

This led to the participation of a number of prominent athletes, with marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie winning the 2008 edition, while Charles Kamathi and Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot followed behind.

[8] Another strong field was assembled in 2010 and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea broke both the 20 kilometres and half marathon world records in his winning run.