The Canberra Times Marathon Festival is an annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

() held in the city of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The marathon was established in 1976 and is the oldest city marathon in Australia. The marathon was initially held on November before being moved to April in 1979.

History

The marathon was first held in November 1976 and had 30 people start. It was founded by John Harding, who also was the race director and inaugural winner, with a finish time of 2:36:39. The whole purpose of the event was to allow John Harding to get a qualifying time in order to enter the Australian Marathon. In total 17 people completed the course of which 14 finished in under 3 hours. In November 1977, the race was known as the "Pre-Pacific Conference Games Marathon" with a total of 85 finishers. The 1978 race had 260 participants and was known as the "Canberra International Marathon" after which it was decided to run the marathon in April to avoid clashing with other races with the 1979 race restricted to 300 runners. The number of runners peaked in 1984 with almost 2,400 starters but dropped in the late 1980s to around 500 runners each year. The event was sponsored by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

from 1979 to 1989 before sponsorship was taken over by the

ACT Academy of Sport The ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) was launched in 1989. It is an endorsed Australian Olympic Committee and Australian Paralympic Committee National Training Centre and a member of the National Institutes of Network. History The establishment of AC ...

for the 1990 race with a $7,000 sponsorship package. Sponsorship for the race was then provided by

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

starting in 1991. The 1995 race was the Australian trial for the

IAAF World Marathon Cup The IAAF World Marathon Cup was an international event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations every two years. From 1997 until 2011 (its final year) it was incorporated with IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Ed ...

after being nominated by

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

. From 2003 a memorandum of understanding was undertaken with ACT Cross Country Club to give Cundy Sports Marketing responsibility to manage the event. In 2010 a dispute between the two groups both claiming to own the event (Cundy Sports Marketing and ACT Cross Country Club) went to court to resolve. As a result of this, government approvals for the event were not granted and the race was not held. As a result of this the ACT Cross Country Club disbanded. The 2011 event was organised by Fairfax Events as part of the Australian Running Festival. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was postponed to 2021 due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, with all entries automatically transferred to 2021 and all registrants given the option of also running the race virtually and receiving a medal for free. The 2021 race attracted 1,600 entries.

Course

In 2014 the race course moved from being a 3-lap race starting and finishing at

Telopea Park School , image = Telopea Park School in Barton (1).jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = , motto = la, Spectans orientia solis lumina , motto_translation = Looking towards the rising sun , established = , type = Government ...

in Manuka to a new, single lap, route starting and finishing at

Old Parliament House, Canberra Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...

after passing landmarks such as the

National Zoo and Aquarium The National Zoo and Aquarium is a privately owned zoo and aquarium in the Australian capital city of Canberra. It is located in Yarralumla at the western end of Lake Burley Griffin, next to Scrivener Dam. It recently had a major expansion, ...

, Government House, Yarralumla and

Telstra Tower Telstra Tower (also known as Black Mountain Tower and formerly Telecom Tower) is a telecommunications tower and lookout that is situated above the summit of Black Mountain, Australian Capital Territory, Black Mountain in Australia's capital city ...

. The marathon starts at

in the suburb of Manuka, within sight of Parliament House. The route starts with a lap around the old and new Parliament buildings and other major government buildings. This is followed by a double lap crossing

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...

(over the Kings Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue bridges) and along

Parkes Way Parkes Way is a major road in Canberra, Australia, which runs east-west between Kings Avenue and the Glenloch Interchange. At Glenloch Interchange it intersects with William Hovell Drive, Tuggeranong Parkway, and Caswell Drive (Gungahlin Drive ...

out towards the Glenloch interchange near the

landmark.

Other awards

Runners who complete ten Canberra marathons are given the honorary title of "Griffin", after Lake Burley Griffin, which is at the centre of the marathon course, and the city of Canberra.

Other races

The event has five races: 5 km race on a Saturday, and the 10 km,

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

on the following day. The ultramarathon allows those registered for the marathon to "go beyond the marathon" and compete in a event. At the time, once participants completed the marathon, they were recorded as marathon finishers and were eligible to run a few extra kilometres to also complete the 50 km race. The ultramarathon and marathon were later split into separate races with separate start times.

Community impact

Under the Australian Running Festival, the event worked to fundraise approximately $200,000 for over 250 charities in 2018. Individuals or teams may participate in the event and work towards fundraising money for their charity of choice; with some teams, such as 'Team Beyond Blue' raising $25,099. Individuals or teams that are participating in the event contribute a donation as part of their entry and may also work towards accumulating sponsors.

Winners

Key: Course record

Notes

References

External links

Australian Running Festival homepage
{{Marathons in Australia Recurring sporting events established in 1976 Marathons in Australia

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

Annual sporting events in Australia