Melbourne Marathon

The Melbourne Marathon has been held every year from 1978. It is run over the traditional marathon distance. (42.195 km). 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. 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 2010 running of the marathon saw a record number of 5026 finishers, and race records set for both men and women.

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.

Since 2007 the event has started near the MCG and finished with a lap of the ground. The predominately 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.

Previous winners

MALE

FEMALE

Spartans

Spartan Qualification

Spartans are runners who have completed 10 or more Melbourne Marathons. Spartans are recognized today by their distinctive green, gold, red, maroon or navy running singlets. Every Spartan has their own personalized 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 more than 1100 who have qualified as Spartans. Most come from Victoria but there are many from other states and one from Japan.

Spartan Legends

Spartan Legends are a select group of runners who have completed every Melbourne Marathon since the beginning. After the 30th running there were only 13 remaining Spartan Legends, named below with the total number of completed runs, including 2011, shown in brackets:

Peter Battrick (34)

Frank Biviano (34)

John Dean (32)

John Dobson (34)

David Foskey (34)

Neville Gardner (34)

Jack Gubbins (30)

Bruce Hargreaves (34)

Manual Karageorgiou (34)

Peter Ryan (34)

Wayne Thompson (34)

Roger Weinstein (34)

Shirley Young (30)

Other Spartans Who Have Completed 30 or more Melbourne Marathons

Since 2008 the following runners have also completed their 30th Melbourne Marathon:

Ken Bowes (32)

Ian Campbell (33)

Bryan Flegg (33)

Laurie Glover (33)

Chas Harcoan (33)

Brickley Hepburn (31)

Jim Hopkins (32)

Keith Hunter (30)

Patrick Larkins (31)

Antony Martin (33)

Conor McNeice (32)

Dennis Nish (33)

Grayson Summers (31)

Richard Tann (32)

Clarke Whitehand (30)

Wheelchair Spartans

The Melbourne Marathon has always included wheelchair entrants. Two have attained Spartan status: Ian Gainey who has completed 23 races and Dean Callow who has completed 12.

References

External links

• Melbourne Marathon Site
• Melbourne Marathon Facebook Group