Copenhagen is about to become the center of the road-running world. On September 19–20, the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26 will bring elite runners from around the globe to Denmark to decide world titles in the One Mile, 5K and Half Marathon. This is also a different kind of world championship. The professionals may be chasing medals at the front, but thousands of everyday runners will follow them onto the streets of Copenhagen. Across the three distances, the event has capacity for as many as 65,000 participants, turning what could have been a fairly traditional championship into a full weekend-long running festival.
For those of us watching instead of running, there is another important detail to know. World Athletics+ offers free live streaming of World Athletics events, but geo-restrictions can apply. Depending on where you are watching from, you may instead need to use the broadcaster that owns the rights in your country. Here is what to know about Copenhagen 26, when the races start, how to watch, and how a VPN can help when your usual stream is unavailable while traveling.
World Athletics Road Running Championships 2026: What to Know
The championships take place over two days in Copenhagen, Denmark, beginning Saturday, September 19 and concluding Sunday, September 20. Saturday belongs to the shorter and faster races. The One Mile championships start the weekend in the morning before attention turns to the 5K in the afternoon. Sunday is reserved for the Half Marathon, which serves as the showcase event of Copenhagen 26.
That combination should make this an especially fun championship to watch. A road mile is almost a sprint by distance-running standards, while the Half Marathon asks for a completely different combination of speed, patience and endurance. Instead of watching variations of essentially the same race, fans get three very different versions of elite road running over one weekend.
Copenhagen should make a pretty good backdrop for it, too. The courses have been designed around the city rather than tucked away on an isolated loop. The 5K runs through areas including Østerbrogade, Trianglen, Østerport and the historic Nyboder district, while the Half Marathon passes through Copenhagen’s inner city and bridge districts.
How to Watch the World Athletics Road Running Championships 2026
The first place I would check is World Athletics+, the official streaming platform from World Athletics. World Athletics provides free livestreams for many of its competitions through World Athletics+, which can be watched on a phone, tablet, laptop or other supported device. Copenhagen 26 is currently listed by World Athletics as an upcoming World Athletics Series event for September 19–20.
There is one catch: free does not necessarily mean available everywhere. World Athletics specifically warns that geo-restrictions can apply to its livestreams. When World Athletics+ isn’t available in a particular country, viewers may need to watch through the local broadcaster that holds the rights there instead. World Athletics publishes event-specific “Where to Watch” information identifying those broadcasters when the details are available.
That makes it worth checking the official viewing page shortly before the races begin, particularly if you’re outside your home country.
Copenhagen 26 Schedule
All of the following start times are local time in Copenhagen (CEST). If you’re watching internationally, remember to convert these to your local time before race morning.
| Date | Event | Elite Women | Elite Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, September 19 | One Mile | 10:10 | 10:30 |
| Saturday, September 19 | 5K | 14:10 | 14:40 |
| Sunday, September 20 | Half Marathon | 09:10 | 09:45 |
The mass-participation races follow the elite starts, so the streets aren’t going to suddenly empty once the world’s fastest runners cross the line. Saturday’s mass One Mile begins after the elite races, the 5K mass race follows later that afternoon, and the Half Marathon field takes over Copenhagen on Sunday morning.
For American viewers, these are early races. Copenhagen is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time during the championships, putting the women’s Half Marathon start at 3:10 a.m. ET Sunday. The Saturday 5K is a little friendlier at 8:10 a.m. ET for the women and 8:40 a.m. ET for the men.
Three Races, Six World Champions
One of my favorite things about this format is just how different the three championship races should feel.
One Mile
The One Mile opens the championships Saturday morning. The course uses a V-shaped layout along Østerbrogade, with runners passing Trianglen before racing toward the finish near Parken.
There isn’t much room for patience over a mile. Decisions happen quickly, positioning matters, and a mistake that costs only a couple of seconds can be enough to end someone’s medal chances. That should make the opening races a great way to kick off the weekend before the distances begin increasing.
5K
Later Saturday, the championship moves to the 5K. World Athletics describes the Copenhagen course as fast and flat, and the route takes the field past Nyboder and along the lakes before returning toward the finish.
Five kilometers gives the field more time to develop than the Mile, but it is still short enough that the leaders can’t afford to wait forever. A fast course and a world championship field should make the closing stages particularly interesting.
Half Marathon
Then comes Sunday’s Half Marathon, the centerpiece of Copenhagen 26. At 21.0975 kilometers, this is where the championship becomes a very different race. The course moves through Copenhagen’s historic inner city and colorful bridge districts, and it follows the same course used for the 2024 Copenhagen Half Marathon. Organizers say that course has already been tested by nearly 30,000 runners.
There will also be an enormous field behind the elites. The Half Marathon alone has capacity for 35,000 participants, and entries have sold out. For me, that mass-participation element is part of what separates Copenhagen 26 from watching a championship contained entirely inside a stadium. The best road runners in the world are racing for a world title on the same streets that thousands of other runners will tackle immediately around them.
Why Is World Athletics+ Geo-Restricted?
Geo-restrictions usually come down to broadcasting rights. A streaming service can have permission to show an event in one country while another network or streaming platform owns the rights somewhere else. World Athletics handles this by making World Athletics+ available where its rights allow and directing viewers toward a local broadcaster in territories where the free stream is restricted.
Streaming platforms can use your IP address to determine the approximate country you’re connecting from. That’s why the same World Athletics stream may work normally in one location but display a restriction after you travel somewhere else.
It can be particularly frustrating for sports fans because your subscription or account hasn’t necessarily changed. Your location has. That’s where a VPN can be useful.
How to Watch the World Athletics Road Running Championships With a VPN
A VPN, or virtual private network, encrypts your internet connection and routes it through a VPN server. Among its privacy benefits, this means websites see the VPN server’s IP address rather than the IP address assigned to your current internet connection. For sports streaming, that can be useful when you’re traveling and want to securely access the services you normally use at home. My preferred method is ExpressVPN, which has server locations around the world and apps for phones, computers, tablets and many popular streaming devices.
Quick VPN Setup for Copenhagen 26
- Sign up for ExpressVPN.
- Download the ExpressVPN app on the device you’ll use to watch.
- Connect to a VPN server in the appropriate location for the streaming service you normally use.
- Open World Athletics+ or your usual authorized broadcaster.
- Sign in if required and start the Copenhagen 26 stream.
A VPN doesn’t give you a subscription to a paid broadcaster, so you’ll still need any account or subscription normally required by the streaming service. Availability and VPN use can also be subject to the streaming platform’s terms.
Disclosure: VPNForSports may earn a commission when you purchase through links on this page. This does not affect the price you pay.
Watching Copenhagen 26 While Traveling
The travel use case is where I think a VPN makes the most sense for this championship.
Imagine you normally watch World Athletics through a service available at home, but you’re abroad during the September 19–20 weekend. You open the stream from your hotel and suddenly find that the broadcast available back home isn’t offered in your current country.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything is wrong with your account. You may simply have crossed into a different broadcast territory.
Connecting your VPN and then opening the service you normally use can help maintain a more consistent and private connection while you’re away. I would still check the official World Athletics viewing information before the event, because the exact broadcaster and streaming availability can vary from country to country. World Athletics itself recommends checking each competition’s “Where to Watch” page because its free stream is subject to geo-restrictions.
Copenhagen Is Ready for a Different Kind of World Championship
There are bigger athletics events on the calendar, but Copenhagen 26 has a format that should be especially good for anyone who loves road racing.
In the space of roughly 24 hours, we’ll go from the intensity of a one-mile race to a flat, fast 5K and finally the tactical endurance battle of a Half Marathon. Six individual world champions will emerge, while tens of thousands of runners get their own chance to follow the elites through Copenhagen.
For viewers, World Athletics+ should be the first place to check, followed by the official local broadcaster if the free stream is geo-restricted in your region. And if you’re traveling during championship weekend and find that your usual streaming option isn’t available from your location, a VPN gives you another method for accessing the internet privately and using your normal streaming services.
However you watch, set the alarm early if you’re in North America. The Half Marathon isn’t waiting for us to wake up.
