Nacht van Groningen

Nacht van Groningen (Night of Groningen) is an evening road race through the illuminated streets of Groningen's historic city center, first held in 2003 and now in its 25th year. Runners choose from four distances—5K, 10K, 10 English Miles, and the Half Marathon—each built from multiples of a lit 5K loop that starts and finishes on the city's central Grote Markt square. The race moved permanently to a genuine after-dark start in 2017, so participants run past the Martinitoren and other Groningen landmarks strung with lights, with staggered start times through the evening for each distance. The 24th edition ran February 7, 2026, drawing about 6,000 runners—up from roughly 5,000 in 2025 and a then-record 3,000-plus in 2024—making it one of the largest evening races in the northern Netherlands. From 2024 the event has carried a title sponsorship from Lagro Ebens Makelaars & Taxateurs, a Groningen real estate firm founded in 1874; before that it ran under other sponsor names, so this record uses the event's own neutral name. The 25th edition is set for Saturday, February 13, 2027, again starting and finishing on the Grote Markt, with registration for 2027 opening in autumn 2026 and an interest list available on the official site in the meantime.