The ninth edition of the Sunshine Coast Marathon is expected to be the biggest yet, with about 7000 runners set to hit the pavement.
The festival, to be based at Alexandra Headland on Sunday, has been bolstered by a record number of nominations after last year’s race was cancelled due to COVID.
“We’re just excited we can put an event on,” organiser Jason Crowther, of Atlas Events, said.
“There have been a lot of cancelled events (during the past 18 months), so people are desperate to take part in something.”
This year’s festival was initially scheduled to be held in August, but it was postponed because of the pandemic.
Now, athletes and their supporters are ready to enjoy one of the country’s top running events.
And the weather looks spectacular with the Bureau predicting mainly blue skies and a top of 27C.
Several roads will be closed during the festival. See the list here.
“It’s a great course, because you can run along the beach the whole way, and it’s a great destination,” Mr Crowther said.
“The Sunny Coast is a pretty good escape for holidays, especially for Brisbane people.”
With border restrictions, Brisbane residents make up about 50% of this year’s field.
“We’ve got a catchment of almost three million people just an hour’s drive away, and many of them want to get away from the city and get to the beach, and do a run, for a perfect weekend.”
The festival is poised to inject about $4.5 million into the local economy.
Sunshine Coast Marathon festival
- Start/finish line is at Alexandra Headland Surf Club
- Sunday, October 10
- Marathon and half marathon start at 6am
- 10km starts at 9am
- 5km starts at 10.15am
- 2km starts at 11am
- Best vantage points, Alexandra Parade, Beach Terrace, Brisbane Road, Sixth Ave, Cotton Tree Parade, The Esplanade, Duporth Avenue, Bradman Avenue
And the event is predicted to be more popular in years to come, in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic marathon, which is likely to held on the Sunshine Coast.
“I think that has added more prestige to our event,” Mr Crowther said.
“I think we’ll get between 15,000 to 20,000 competitors in coming years. The event will double as more people know about the Games.
“And the Sunshine Coast also just keeps growing (in population).”
More than 1100 runners will compete in the marathon (42.2km), through Alexandra Headland, Mooloolaba and Maroochydore, on Sunday.
More than 2800 entries have been submitted for the most popular event, the half marathon (21.1km).
“It’s a challenging distance but a conceivable distance for everyone,” Mr Crowther said.
“I’m a bit biased but I reckon we’ve got the best half marathon in Australia.
“We probably don’t have the best marathon course – Gold Coast and Melbourne have that over us – but the half marathon course is a very nice course and a fast course.”
An Australian All-Comers half-marathon record was broken on the course in 2019, when Lisa Weightman clocked 68min48sec to win the event.
The first three place-getters of that race, including Weightman, Sinead Diver and Ellie Pashley were selected to compete for Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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Meanwhile, more than 1500 people are set to compete in the 10km, with more than 900 runners in the 5km and more than 900 in the 2km.
Border restrictions have ensured elite runners from inter-state won’t be present this year.
“But all of the top Queensland runners are coming,” Mr Crowther said.
Clay Dawson should be in the thick of the action in the marathon, while Jack Bruce looms as the one to beat in the half marathon. Star triathlete Ashleigh Gentle will compete in the 10km.
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Mr Crowther encouraged locals to check out the festival, which is also an important fundraiser for a variety of charities.
“Get down and support it. We need these events, so if you’re not running, come down and cheer them on and get them across the line.”
With no new COVID cases in the state on Wednesday, the event should be all systems go.
“We’re living on a knife’s edge … so we’re hoping Queenslanders do the right thing,” Mr Crowther said.
