What's On
What's On
Gold Coast Marathon goes the distance
June 20, 2023
Image supplied by Gold Coast Marathon
Get ready, get set: The Gold Coast Marathon returns for another run in 2023.
Described as the “pinnacle of road running events in Australia”, the much-loved Gold Coast Marathon will return this July to celebrate its 43rd edition. Its fast and flat route through beautiful scenery paired with ideal winter running conditions, make the marathon a very attractive experience for participants, 60% of which are expected to achieve personal best times each year – that’s already a win!
With some 20,000 runners expected to compete, including a strong international field from South-East Asia, Japan and New Zealand, the marathon continues to foster a community spirit like no other with comradery running high amongst locals and runners from abroad.
Last year’s notable change to the program will continue in 2023 with the running of the half marathon and marathon on separate days. “With the half marathon on the Saturday and the full marathon on the Sunday, this will allow us to start the full marathon earlier,” says former Gold Coast Marathon CEO, Cameron Hart. By starting the marathon at 6 am, runners will be “starting in darkness but there’s good street lighting, and we can run more of the race in really good marathon conditions before it warms up. Having this earlier start allows us to finish the event earlier, so there’s less disruption to the city with road closures, and we’ll be all over and done by lunch time.”
With marathon, half marathon, 10 km run, wheelchair marathon and 10 km course, 5 km fun run, and 4 km and 2 km junior dash, there’s something for everyone in a weekend of running the whole family can enjoy. “We try to make the event as attractive as possible for the runners,” says Cameron. “It’s a coastline course, it’s the flattest part of the city but it’s also the most scenic. We promote it as a flat and fast course. We pay a lot of attention to detail in servicing athletes.”
Gold Coast Marathon Ambassador Pat Carroll is a four-time winner of the event, spanning a remarkable 13 years between his first win in 1984 and his fourth. Pat still trains athletes for the event, with his Brisbane running group and has worked with over 200 athletes in preparation for the 2023 GC Marathon.
Pat Carroll and Michael Shelley
In 2011, Ethiopian Goitetom Tesema blitzed the women’s marathon in 2:30:08, the second fastest time for a female in the history of the event.
2008 Gold Coast Marathon women’s medallists: New Zealand’s Shireen Crumpton (1), Queenslanders Rina Hill (2) and Roxie Schmidt (3).
“I think it’s sensational,” says Pat of the marathon that launched his running career. “The Gold Coast was very good to me. Apart from the marathon, I’ve won the half marathon, the 10 km, and I placed a few times. I think I’ve been on the podium seven or eight times.”
Now Pat’s using all that accumulated experience to help others get the best out of themselves. “I like to work with people over six months or more. You start off with a light workload and build up,” he says. But his job isn’t finished on race day, when he organises pace setters, identified by helium balloons to help his runners stay on schedule for their desired times.
“It’s definitely the premier event timewise from an elite perspective. If you want to get a Personal Best the Gold Coast is the place to do it,” he says. “The fastest marathon race in Australia is the Gold Coast. It’s a flat course – why make life harder than 42 km?”
And, Pat says, the appeal of the Gold Coast Marathon to runners from all over the world remains strong. “For me, I’m biased, because I’m a Queenslander. I never get bored of getting down to the Gold Coast. We’re very fortunate to have such a beautiful holiday destination on our doorstep.”
Highlights and milestones along the Gold Coast Marathon’s rich history are many and varied, since well-known local baker and Rotarian John Goldstein led the successful launch of the first race back in 1979. Victoria’s Eric Sigmont and Lismore’s Mary Murison took out the inaugural men’s and women’s events respectively, earning themselves return flights to Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon.
In 1981, Surfers Paradise Surf Club hosted the event’s first carbo-loading party where enormous bowls of pasta ruled the night before the race. Despite increasing numbers of highly-fancied international runners, local athletes continued to hold their own in the esteemed company. In 1986, Benowa “super mum” Margaret Reddan won her fourth consecutive Gold Coast Marathon. And in 1987 Miami High school teacher Laurie Adams defied predictions of a Japanese blitz on the event, taking out his second race win.
But the Japanese charge well and truly arrived in the ‘90s, with Japanese runners dominating the men’s and women’s event for several years. Race veteran Pat Carroll came back in 1997 to record his fourth victory, while in the 2000s African runners began to assert their dominance. Kenya’s Nicholas Manza set a new race record in 2011 while his compatriot, Silah Limo, improved upon the record, registering the fastest marathon ever in Australia in 2014. Yet another Kenyan Kenneth Mungara bettered that record again in 2015, at the age of 41, while Ethiopia’s Abebech Bekel set a new women’s marathon record in 2017.
This year’s marathon is especially momentous for one international participant in particular; Japanese runner, Takayuki Yamamoto, will be celebrating his 30th run in the Gold Coast Marathon. This will make Takayuki the first international runner (and sixth person ever) to reach the exclusive 30 Year Legends Club. Reflecting on his journey, Takayuki remembers being the first Japanese runner over the line during his first Gold Coast Marathon in 1989. Since then, he’s just kept coming back.
Wheelchair athlete Richard Nicholson kept local pride alive by winning his second consecutive Gold Coast Marathon in 2013 after three half-marathon victories. And Kurt Fernley set a new wheelchair marathon record in 2016.
In 2014, the Gold Coat Marathon became the first Australian marathon to receive the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Road Race Gold Label, putting it in esteemed international company as a truly world-class event.
Another race ambassador, and Australia’s great distance runner, Benita Willis, is also busy training athletes for the return of the marathon, through her Lace Up Running group. She works with runners from around the world who look to participating each year.
“It’s a big social event as well as running the marathon. It’s one of those places you can come and race and have a holiday afterwards. It’s always such an enjoyable weekend.”
Benita generally works with her runners for a minimum 12-week training period, sharing her vast experience, and providing support and guidance on race day. “If you’re a first-time marathon runner, don’t start too fast. You’ll have a lot of adrenalin at the start and you’ll feel like you want to start fast, but save it for after the 30 km mark,” she advises. “The majority of people I work with have got jobs and families, and they’re really busy people.
I love to see people achieve their goals, people who get up at 4:30am or 5am to train and then get their kids to school and go off to jobs.”
Wheelchair racer in the 2010 Gold Coast Marathon
1997 marathon week results cover
Junior runners in the 2011 Gold Coast Marathon
The Gold Coast Marathon also represents the climax of the Bravehearts 777 Marathon which invites runners to take on the gruelling challenge of running seven marathons across seven states (as well as virtually) over seven days. The Bravehearts 777 Marathon is one of Bravehearts’ major annual fundraising drives to support vital counselling and support services for victims of child sexual abuse, as well as prevention and education programs across the country.
“Over the last eight years, we’ve had more than 1,800 people run to protect children either nationally or in their own state for both our physical and virtual Bravehearts 777 events, raising more than $1.9 million for Bravehearts’ programs and services,” says Bravehearts’ CEO, Alison Geale.
The ASICS Sport & Leisure Expo, Australia’s largest free admission sports expo, will again kick off the Gold Coast Marathon, with more than 25,000 visitors expected at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre at Broadbeach from Thursday 29 June to Saturday 1 July. The 2023 event will feature more than 50 exhibitors in footwear and fashion, the latest in fitness technology, nutrition and wellbeing and all-important race day information for competitors.
But for all the elite athletes and big names from overseas, at the heart of the Gold Coast Marathon’s appeal is a family-friendly environment that caters to all abilities. “It’s a great fit for families to get away for the weekend. It always falls in school holidays, it’s great to for kids to see mum or dad racing and there’s 2 km and 4 km races for the kids. It’s a great family opportunity,” says Pat Carroll.
