The half-marathon event has been recognised with a World Athletics Label, something only 237 races around the world earned last year.

The festival will be a two-day event this year, held on June 1-2, with organiser Richard Welsh ecstatic to have the half-marathon be part of an exclusive group.

"We need to have a point of difference from all the other events out there," he said.

"A World Athletics Label says that, yes, this event will be a properly-measured course, a properly-timed course and if you fail a drug test, you won't be given the prize money.

"It is the absolute highest level of certification and peace of mind ultimately to the participant - whether they are just a joe jogger on the weekend or looking to represent their country at a major championship."

Welsh said earning the certification took a "significant amount" of work, with the festival earning the trust of World Athletics since it started as the Launceston 10 in 2007.

World Athletics International Officials Manager Brian Roe explained the history and significance behind the label - which began "around 10 years ago".

"Until then, the road-running community had been doing its own thing," Roe said.

"World Athletics decided the most credible way it could get involved was in terms of adding to the quality of these events, providing some mechanisms, integrity around events.

"Even the most advanced of the road races around the world said 'yeah, we want this', so now it's become a real honour and when a race is given a label - it's all about quality."

Using the phrase 'from little things, big things grow', Roe compared the success of the Launceston Running Festival to that of European country Latvia, who hosted last year's World Athletics Road Running Championships.

"Once you've got respect, once you've got a reputation and once you've shown you can deliver an event with quality and integrity, who knows what can happen," Roe said.

"It's a first step, but a very important one."

Welsh and the organisers of the festival are eager to bring the world titles to Launceston in 2031, a year before the Olympics in Brisbane - previously describing it as an "achievable target".