The ultimate St. Patrick’s Day endurance test
Started in 2001, the 3 Legged Charity Race is part of our Shamrock Love roots. This unique tradition raises money for children’s charities and kickstarts the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. It’s put Copenhagen on the list of best places in the world to celebrate the day.
The 3 Legged Charity Race is proudly sponsored by 
St. Patrick’s Day 2024
In 2025, we’re delighted to announce a new start location and an extra bar on route. This St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll be starting from Café Trold on Vesterbro Torv, a pub run and owned by familiar Irish faces. It’s got a great outdoor area and enough space for us to safely start the race. We’ll be down there waiting for you from 13:00 on St. Patrick’s Day with your leg ties and timesheets.
The race will start at 14:00 and the first pub on route? Well, it’s Kennedy’s Irish Pub of course. And remember- this time you’ll need to get a pub stamp after you drink your beer there!
Registration
Registration starts at 12:00 on 17 February 2024. Participation in the race costs a donation of 250 DKK per team (2 people). Sign up for the race on EventBrite.
Arrival at Cafe Trold
We’ll be waiting for you down at Cafe Trold from 13:00 on St. Patrick’s Day. When you arrive, you’ll receive your 3LR pack containing your race armbands, velcro leg-tie, and team sheet with your team-name.
After that, you can test out your 3 legged skills around Vesterbro Torv or sit down with a pre-race drink before the race starts at 14:00. Please note that everyone who enters must abide by the race rules.
Leg ties
We’ve learnt a thing or 2 about leg ties over the years. From the early zip-ties days to the many years with our beloved gaffa tape.
Two years we introduced our velcro leg-ties and racers loved them so we’ll just keep on using them. Though we know that some of you prefer a tighter leg tie so don’t worry, our volunteers will be on hand with some extra gaffa tape left over from previous years, so just ask and we’ll tighten it up for you ;)
Merchandise
We’ll be selling St. Patrick’s Day hats, t-shirts, headgear and there’ll be face-painting. Our race volunteers will be on hand to get you kitted out for the Race.
Remember folks, thanks to Guinness, every kroner you spend during Shamrock Love’s 3 Legged Charity Race - on merchandise or face-painting- will go directly to our 3 charities so if you’re buying something fun to wear this Paddy’s Day, make sure you buy it from us 🙂
Race start
Shamrock Love’s 3 Legged Charity Race 2024 will start outside Cafe Trold on Vesterbro Torv at 14:00.
Racers will be set off in groups of 10 teams. The race will be timed using RaceClocker. We’ll publish results on Facebook when the race is finished.
Route 2024
On the Team Sheet there’s a QR code for the route map and space for the stamps you’ll receive at each of the five pubs on route (we’ll pre-stamp Cafe Trold so when your race time starts you can just drink and go!)
You’re asked to drink a small (½ pint) beer and receive a stamp in each pub on route.
In 2024, the race passes though the following pubs:
You’ll have a total of 1½ hours from your start time in which to complete the race. You can of course take longer but we will stop the clock , it just means you didn’t win the race. We’d love to wait for every team to cross the finish line, but some of ye we’ve also meet some 8 hours after their start time
See the complete 2.7 km route on google maps.
Finish Line
The race finishes at The Dubliner on the walking street. Here, once you drink your last beer, our volunteers will register your Finish time in RaceClocker.
Prize giving
Prize giving will take place on stage at The Dubliner at 16:00. As always, we’ll have prizes for the winners of this year’s race and the best dressed racers. Thanks to all the pubs on route for the prizes.
Story behind the race
And they’re off! Racers at the 3 Legged Charity Race, 17 March 2019, Copenhagen
Credit— Andy Kelly (Paddyrazzi)
It’s a simple recipe- take a time-honoured race and some classic Copenhagen pubs. Mix with some Velcro leg ties and plenty of fun-loving revellers. Then sprinkle with some heart-warming appeal and a bit of craic, and you have the makings of the perfect way to celebrate the Irish national holiday.
Sponsored by Guinness, the 3 Legged Charity Race is Copenhagen’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day event. Started back in 2001 with just 18 teams, since then many more have accepted the challenge to become our 3 legged legends.
This wacky race, together with Shamrock Love, has donated 648,000 DKK (€86,880) to various charities and put the city on the lists of best places in the world to celebrate the day.
Ran by a committed group of volunteers from the city’s Danish-Irish community, the race kickstarts the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and brings everyone together for a fun-filled afternoon.
Check out this video from 2019 when the Embassy of Ireland in Denmark interviewed organiser Siobhán Kelleher-Petersen about how the 3 Legged Charity Race started.