Melbourne Marathon

The Melbourne Marathon has been held every year from 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.

Melbourne Marathon
Melbourne Marathon in 2013 at Princes Bridge
DateOctober
LocationMelbourne, Australia
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Established1978
Course recordsMen's: 2:10:47 (2013)
Dominic Ondoro
Women's: 2:25:19 (2018)
Sinead Diver
Official siteMelbourne Marathon
Participants7,014 (2019)

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 the 9th of September due to the COVID-19 crisis. A virtual marathon is planned for December 5 to December 13.

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.

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.

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  Elizabeth Richards-Hassall (AUS)2:53:38
2nd 1979 Andrew Lloyd (AUS)2:26:44  Jane Kuchins (AUS)3:12:35
3rd 1980 Andrew Lloyd (AUS)2:17:37  Rosemary Longstaff (AUS)2:46:16
4th 1981 Andrew Lloyd (AUS)2:19:03  Jackie Turney-Cook (AUS)2:42:12
5th 1982 Bill Rodgers (USA)2:11:08  Sue King (USA)2:37:57
6th 1983 Juma Ikangaa (TAN)2:13:15  Rhonda Mallinder (AUS)2:37:56
7th 1984 Juma Ikangaa (TAN)2:15:31  Margaret Reddan (AUS)2:43:40
8th 1985 Fred van der Vennet (BEL)2:12:35  Margaret Reddan (AUS)2:44:56
9th 1986 Richard Umberg (SUI)2:17:21  Tani Ruckle (AUS)2:36:06
10th 1987 Ric Sayre (USA)2:14:16  Jackie Turney-Cook (AUS)2:44:18
11th 1988 Thomas Hughes (IRL)2:18:14  Coral Farr (AUS)2:47:38
12th 1989 Takeshi So (JPN)2:18:13  Colleen Stephens (AUS)2:49:18
13th 1990 Russell Foley (AUS)2:20:35  Alevtina Chasova (URS)2:39:00
14th 1991 Victor Muzgovoi (URS)2:17:02  Irina Petrova (URS)2:39:57
15th 1992 Sławomir Gurny (POL)2:16:04†  Alena Peterková (TCH)2:33:02†
16th 1993 Jerry Modiga (RSA)2:15:07  Dominique Rembert (FRA)2:44:22
17th 1994 Manabu Kawagoe (JPN)2:19:02  Winnie Ng (HKG)2:47:37
18th 1995 Osamu Monoe (JPN)2:17:19  Lynn Clayton (AUS)2:38:50
19th 1996 Zerhun Gizaw (ETH)2:22:40  Sylvia Rose (AUS)2:41:53
20th 1997 Greg Lyons (AUS)2:15:49  Tracey Newton (AUS)2:48:32
21st 1998 Daniel Radebe (RSA)2:12:48  Sherryn Rhodes (AUS)2:37:56
22nd 1999 Michael McIntyre (AUS)2:25:04  Susan Hobson (AUS)2:33:27
23rd 2000 Jamie Harrison (AUS)2:25:53  Nelly Marmy-Conus (AUS)2:49:22
24th 2001 Todd Ingraham (AUS)2:23:58  Samantha Hughes (AUS)2:39:44
25th 2002 Phillip Sly (AUS)2:22:28  Sherryn Rhodes (AUS)2:47:08
26th 2003 Magnus Michelsson (AUS)2:14:00  Loretta McGrath (AUS)2:49:01
27th 2004 Magnus Michelsson (AUS)2:26:51  Belinda Schipp (AUS)2:54:01
28th 2005 Nick Harrison (AUS)2:23:30  Sherryn Rhodes (AUS)2:50:35
29th 2006 Kazunari Suzuki (JPN)2:23:43  Karen Natoli-Barlow (AUS)2:53:06
30th 2007 Rohan Walker (AUS)2:19:16  Hanny Allston (AUS)2:40:34
31st 2008 Asnake Fikadu (ETH)2:17:43  Mai Tagami (JPN)2:38:16
32nd 2009 Asnake Fikadu (ETH) 2:17:32 Lisa Flint (AUS)2:34:08
33rd 2010 Japhet Kipkorir (KEN)2:11:04  Mulu Seboka (ETH)2:32:20
34th 2011 Japhet Kipkorir (KEN)2:11:12  Irene Mogaka (KEN)2:35:12
35th 2012 Jonathan Chesoo (KEN)2:12:35  Lauren Shelley (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 Isaac Birir (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 Isaac Birir (KEN)2:16:31  Naomi Maiyo (KEN)2:35:34
  • † = 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 42nd 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 42
David Foskey 42
Neville Gardner * 41
Bruce Hargreaves 42
Manual Karageorgiou * (deceased) 39
Peter Ryan * 37
Wayne Thompson 42
Roger Weinstein 42
Ian Campbell 40
Bryan Flegg 41
Chas Harcoan 41
Antony Martin 37
Dennis Nish 41
Richard Tann 37
Ken Bowes 40
Laurie Glover (deceased) 34
Jim Hopkins 40
Conor McNeice 34
John Burt 35
John Dean * 33
Brian Gawne 32
Grayson Summers 39
Carlo Iovenitti 37
Steven Lightowler 37
Jack Gubbins (deceased) * 30
Keith Hunter 30
Brian Walsh 34
Clarke Whitehand 30
Shirley Young (deceased) * 30
Hugh Creamer 31
Russell Harris 33
Con Zanetidis 33
Stephen Barker 32
John Kaparelis 32
Brett Thiele 31
Jim Yatomi-Clarke 33
Andy Moore 33
Peter Moore 31
Duncan Bartley 31

Wheelchair Spartans

The Melbourne Marathon has always included wheelchair entrants. Two have attained Spartan status: Ian Gainey who has completed 29 races and Dean Callow who has completed 12.

References
  1. By George, it’s time to get fit for the Melbourne Marathon!
  • "The Wall: The history of the Melbourne Marathon 1978–2012" by Chris Muirden
List of winners
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