Melbourne Marathon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Melbourne Marathon
Melbourne Marathon 2013.jpg
Melbourne Marathon in 2013 at Princes Bridge
DateOctober
LocationMelbourne, Australia
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorNike
Established1978
Course recordsMen's: 2:10:47 (2013)
Kenya Dominic Ondoro
Women's: 2:25:19 (2018)
Australia Sinead Diver
Official siteMelbourne Marathon
Participants4,927 finishers (2021)
7,014 (2019)

The Melbourne Marathon has been held annually since 1978. The 42.195 km run over the traditional marathon distance is the main race within the annual Melbourne Marathon Festival. The race celebrated its 30th birthday in 2007 with a new course which featured the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as both the starting point and finishing point. A total of 3328 competitors completed the 2008 race. Another 17,000 people participated in Half Marathon (21.1 km), 10 km and 5.5 km events.

The 2019 running of the marathon saw an Australian record of 7037 finishers, 1880 of whom were female (27%). In 1978 approximately 4% of the 1947 finishers were female.

The 2020 event was cancelled on 9 September due to the COVID-19 crisis. A virtual marathon was run for the period 5 December to 13 December.

In September 2021 it was decided to postpone the 2021 event until the 11th and 12th of December. The marathon and half marathon were run on Sunday the 12th, starting an hour earlier to escape the heat. The shorter events were held on the afternoon of Saturday the 11th.

The marathon has been owned by IMG since 2006.[1]

The course[]

A variety of different courses have been used for the Melbourne Marathon although the most common course has begun at Frankston and concluded at either Albert Park or at The Arts Centre on St. Kilda Rd. It is normally run on the second Sunday in October.[citation needed]

Since 2007 the event has started near the MCG and finished with a lap of the ground. The predominantly flat marathon course goes through some of the most scenic areas of Melbourne. It skirts the Botanic Gardens and Albert park Lake with several kilometres on the road parallel to the beaches of Port Phillip Bay. The other events share parts of the course but staggered starts ease congestion.[citation needed]

Past winners[]

Key:   Course record   Country's championship race

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1978  Bill Scott (AUS) 2:21:04   (AUS) 2:53:38
2nd 1979  Andrew Lloyd (AUS) 2:26:44   (AUS) 3:12:35
3rd 1980  Andrew Lloyd (AUS) 2:17:37   (AUS) 2:46:16
4th 1981  Andrew Lloyd (AUS) 2:19:03   (AUS) 2:42:12
5th 1982  Bill Rodgers (USA) 2:11:08   (USA) 2:37:57
6th 1983  Juma Ikangaa (TAN) 2:13:15   (AUS) 2:37:56
7th 1984  Juma Ikangaa (TAN) 2:15:31   (AUS) 2:43:40
8th 1985   (BEL) 2:12:35   (AUS) 2:44:56
9th 1986   (SUI) 2:17:21  Tani Ruckle (AUS) 2:36:06
10th 1987  Ric Sayre (USA) 2:14:16   (AUS) 2:44:18
11th 1988  Thomas Hughes (IRL) 2:18:14   (AUS) 2:47:38
12th 1989  Takeshi So (JPN) 2:18:13   (AUS) 2:49:18
13th 1990   (AUS) 2:20:35   (URS) 2:39:00
14th 1991   (URS) 2:17:02   (URS) 2:39:57
15th 1992   (POL) 2:16:04†  Alena Peterková (TCH) 2:33:02†
16th 1993   (RSA) 2:15:07   (FRA) 2:44:22
17th 1994   (JPN) 2:19:02  Winnie Ng (HKG) 2:47:37
18th 1995   (JPN) 2:17:19   (AUS) 2:38:50
19th 1996   (ETH) 2:22:40  Sylvia Rose (AUS) 2:41:53
20th 1997   (AUS) 2:15:49   (AUS) 2:48:32
21st 1998   (RSA) 2:12:48   (AUS) 2:37:56
22nd 1999   (AUS) 2:25:04  Susan Hobson (AUS) 2:33:27
23rd 2000   (AUS) 2:25:53   (AUS) 2:49:22
24th 2001   (AUS) 2:23:58   (AUS) 2:39:44
25th 2002   (AUS) 2:22:28   (AUS) 2:47:08
26th 2003  Magnus Michelsson (AUS) 2:14:00   (AUS) 2:49:01
27th 2004  Magnus Michelsson (AUS) 2:26:51   (AUS) 2:54:01
28th 2005  Nick Harrison (AUS) 2:23:30   (AUS) 2:50:35
29th 2006   (JPN) 2:23:43   (AUS) 2:53:06
30th 2007   (AUS) 2:19:16  Hanny Allston (AUS) 2:40:34
31st 2008   (ETH) 2:17:43   (JPN) 2:38:16
32nd 2009   (ETH) 2:17:32   (AUS) 2:34:08
33rd 2010   (KEN) 2:11:04  Mulu Seboka (ETH) 2:32:20
34th 2011   (KEN) 2:11:12  Irene Mogaka (KEN) 2:35:12
35th 2012   (KEN) 2:12:35   (AUS) 2:36:29
36th 2013  Dominic Ondoro (KEN) 2:10:47  Lisa Weightman (AUS) 2:26:05
37th 2014  Dominic Ondoro (KEN) 2:11:30  Nikki Chapple (AUS) 2:31:05
38th 2015  Brad Milosevic (AUS) 2:16:00  Jessica Trengove (AUS) 2:27:45
39th 2016  Thomas Do Canto (AUS) 2:20:53  Virginia Moloney (AUS) 2:34:27
40th 2017   (KEN) 2:14:08  Celia Sullohern (AUS) 2:29:27
41st 2018  Liam Adams (AUS) 2:15:13  Sinead Diver (AUS) 2:25:19
42nd 2019   (KEN) 2:16:31   (KEN) 2:35:34
2020 postponed due to coronavirus pandemic
43rd [2] 2021  Brett Robinson (AUS) 2:14:33   (AUS) 2:26:59
  • † = short course

Spartans[]

Qualification[]

Spartans are runners who have completed 10 or more Melbourne Marathons and are recognised today by their distinctive green, gold, red, maroon or navy running singlets. Every Spartan has their own personalised race number. The singlet is worn with pride by all Spartans as a sign of their dedication to marathon running and the Melbourne Marathon in particular. Club records reflect almost 1400 males and 150 females who have qualified as Spartans. Most come from Victoria but there are many from other states with at least two from Japan.

Legends and Hall of Fame members[]

Spartan Legends prior to the 2007 Melbourne Marathon

Spartan Legends are a select group of runners who have completed every Melbourne Marathon since the beginning. After the 43rd running there were five remaining Spartan Legends. Runners who have completed at least 30 marathons are eligible for the Melbourne Marathon Hall of Fame. The runners marked with an asterisk in the following list completed the first 30 marathons.

Name Completed runs
Peter Battrick * 37
Frank Biviano * 40
John Dobson 43
David Foskey 43
Neville Gardner * 41
Bruce Hargreaves 43
Manual Karageorgiou * (deceased) 39
Peter Ryan * 37
Wayne Thompson 43
Roger Weinstein 43
Ian Campbell 41
Bryan Flegg 41
Chas Harcoan 42
Antony Martin 37
Dennis Nish 41
Richard Tann 37
Ken Bowes 40
Laurie Glover (deceased) 34
Jim Hopkins 41
Conor McNeice 34
John Burt 35
John Dean * 33
Brian Gawne 32
Grayson Summers 40
Carlo Iovenitti (deceased) 37
Steven Lightowler 38
Jack Gubbins (deceased) * 30
Keith Hunter 30
Brian Walsh 34
Clarke Whitehand 30
Shirley Young (deceased) * 30
Hugh Creamer 32
Russell Harris 33
Con Zanetidis 34
Stephen Barker 33
John Kaparelis 32
Brett Thiele 31
Jim Yatomi-Clarke 33
Andy Moore 34
Peter Moore (deceased) 31
Duncan Bartley 32

Wheelchair Spartans[]

The Melbourne Marathon has always included wheelchair entrants. Two have attained Spartan status: Dean Callow who has completed 12 and Ian Gainey who has now completed 30 races and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2022 Annual General Meeting.

References[]

  1. ^ By George, it’s time to get fit for the Melbourne Marathon!
  2. ^ Results: Melbourne Marathon Festival 2021. (2021, December 11). Watch Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2021, from https://www.watchathletics.com/page/2735/results-melbourne-marathon-festival-2021
  • "The Wall: The history of the Melbourne Marathon 1978–2012" by Chris Muirden
List of winners

External links[]

Retrieved from ""