Running season is here and that means festivals are taking place. Whether you’re a beginner hoping to get in your first short, sharp fun run or an experienced racer looking for a longer, tougher challenge, Australia’s event calendar has something for everyone.
From tropical islands and the red earth of the outback to the best offerings in big cities, we’ve selected some of the most unmissable long-distance running events from around the country. This selection of quotes from the newly published Weekend Runner Australia guidebook will help you cross the metaphorical starting line and seek further.
New South Wales – City2Surf
Where: Sydney CBD to Bondi
When: 11 August 2024
Distance: 14km
There are few things more certain in life than death, taxes, and Heartbreak Hill. The 2km climb from New South Head Road from Rose Bay to Vaucluse (about 6km of Australia’s most famous recreational trail) will spare no one’s soul. The term “fun run” is open to interpretation depending on whether you are a serious competitor, amateur, or hiker. No matter which way you swing, your legs will feel the burn at the halfway point. If you look up from above to enjoy the view, you’ll see Sydney Harbor to your left in all its glory, including a glimpse of the Harbor Bridge.
With over 85,000 participants, it’s the world’s largest fun run, and given the limited width of the roads, you feel the pressure. Still, organizers have created staggered waves of starters, ranging from pre-qualified speedsters to those with wheelchairs, strollers and guide dogs. The trail starts in Hyde Park below St Mary’s Cathedral and heads directly onto the William Street motorway.
Don’t get beaten by someone wearing a gorilla suit; This is bad for self-confidence.
There are at least 25 entertainment stations on the route; this far exceeds the number of water stations and includes live music, DJ sets, food trucks and bars. Some people get so distracted by it all that they can’t finish it.
If you reach Heartbreak Hill and you’re wearing regular gym clothes, just think about those wearing furry animal costumes in the challenging gardens. Don’t get beaten by someone wearing a gorilla suit; This is bad for self-confidence.
One particularly welcome touch is the array of hoses that spray water at competitors to offset the morning heat. And another little uphill through Dover Heights to the finish at Bondi beach, and you can enjoy a day of surf, sand and frivolity.
Where: Great Ocean Road
When: 18-19 May 2024
Distance: 60km, 44km, 23km, 14km, 6km, 1.5km kids, 12km track, 6.5km track, 10km walk
Much of Australia’s surfable coastline can also be operated. But running perhaps the country’s most famous trail—home of the dramatic Twelve Apostles rising from the Southern Ocean—makes this event stand out from the rest. This winding 240km stretch is about a 90-minute drive southwest of Melbourne. The event provides buses to transport participants back to their respective starting lines, eliminating a potential logistical nightmare.
If you opt for the full marathon, prepare for something longer – the “marathon” is 44km, which is probably about ensuring marathoners can start in the lazy seaside town of Lorne and finish at the lively Apollo Bay hotel. The “half marathon” is also 2km longer than the normal half, starting from the Kennett River and ending at Apollo Bay, with 14km and 6km heading inland. The last two are wheelchair accessible. There are nice touches at both ends, with free yoga classes, activities and entertainment. The reason everyone is here is because of the in-between part.
The race starts from Lorne Surf Life Saving Club; Soon there will be forest on your right, beaches and rocky coastline on your left. And there are plenty of surfers wearing wetsuits to offset the autumn chill. The ocean views are panoramic and the trail itself is well-maintained and sure-footed, so you have no excuse for letting it pass you by.
The remoteness of the road means there are no spectators, and the relatively small venue (there were 9,350 registrations across nine events in 2023 – the highest number in the festival’s 19-year history) makes this a relatively quiet ride.
One tip: save energy on the hills. The entire track is up and down, but there are three larger hills at approximately 7km, 22km and 25km. You will make up the time on the way back.
Where: busselton
When: February 8, 2025
Distance: 42.2km, 21.1km, 10km, 5km
Let’s go through the checklist. Flat and fast track? Check. Nice weather? Check. Holiday destination? Check. Family friend? Check. The annual event in Australia’s spectacular south-west region offers a variety of distances.
The half marathon is the biggest draw and a great excuse for Perth runner-minded families to head “south” for the weekend. The 750 participants, including many of WA’s fastest long-distance runners, make up half of the 1,500 total participants in the 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon. This field size is one of the secrets to BRC’s success in consistently hitting the sweet spot between a big race and one with a special parkrun-like community feel.
Relating to: Cycling calendar: The best places to cycle in Australia every month of the year
After the gun goes off, the escape from the city follows a dual path. You may not feel so good when you pass this point again on the way back, so take a look to your right and enjoy the view of the magical combination of sand and a flatter, pristine, teal ocean. course.
Bonus: After the final sprint to the finish line, it’s just a 50-meter walk to the ocean for a refreshing dip.
Where: Western MacDonnell Ranges
When: 16-19 August 2024
Distance: Namatjira (short course) 11-30km stages, Malbunka (long course) 20-45km stages
A four-stage traverse along carefully selected sections of the famous Larapinta Trail, Run Larapinta markets itself on friendliness, treating this event as an experience rather than a race, and appealing to inclusivity. The Malbunka (long course) requires a heat and over the course of four stages, runners will cover approximately 128 km in total. However, Namatjira (short course) can be done by anyone with sufficient determination and strong body. Cutting times are so generous that the course is walkable.
A wide range of ages and body shapes come from across Australia to seek some adventure on the famous walking trail, which totals 223 kilometers from the historic Telegraph Station in Alice Springs to Mount Sonder in the MacDonnell Ranges.
Even in winter, the days are warm and runners are advised not to take unnecessary risks. The walk-only access rule applies here: If we injure ourselves, but it’s not serious enough to require a major and expensive rescue operation, participants are told to “swallow a concrete pill and walk on their own to the finish point.” The operative word here is “hike” because unless you’re a trail shoe-wearing mountain goat, you can expect to hike entire sections at once. Water is transported by helicopter. Most of the route is in mountainous and rocky terrain, divided by open savannahs. It makes the executables even sweeter.
Where: Magnetic Island
When: May 25, 2024
Distance: 21km, 12km, 6km
More than three-quarters of this tropical island off the coast of Townsville is a national park, and there are sleepy koalas in the trees. The Wulgurukaba people were traveling between Yunbenun island and the mainland long before Captain James Cook passed through the island in 1770, and culturally significant Aboriginal cave art is still clearly visible in some of the island’s bays. One of them, Nelly Bay, is the starting point of all three running distances. This is where I arrived without a few essential pieces of equipment, including a compression bandage (due to snake danger) and a headlamp (due to the potential for darkness). Luckily the local supermarket offers both as a trump card, along with some sunscreen; Those on the 21km trail will need it along the halfway point of the bitumen road under the hot afternoon sun.
This is the other oddity of the event: it doesn’t start until the afternoon. The path heads off the road and into the bush, where a single-track path climbs up endless stairs to a peak with outstanding views, and drops just as steeply down the other side. Longer distances follow a trail to Horseshoe Bay, where tourists cheer from the front windows of bars and restaurants, then the trail loops back towards Arcadia and the finish line, leading to a road that runs all the way to the bars. where stainless steel barrels line both sides of the last 20 metres.
Where: Stanley, northwest coast
When: March 1, 2025
Distance: 101 km (individual or team of two, three or four people), 75 km (individual), 50 km (individual or team of two), 25 km (individual)
Gone Nuts is so named because those doing the 101km race circumnavigate the Nut, a 150-metre-high ancient volcanic plug that juts into Bass Strait near the quaint colonial village of Stanley. From the start, in a park near Rocky Cape Road, the road turns into a long, straight road; runners quietly pace up the easy hill before reaching the big hill. The looming figure of Cape Rocky looms around the bend; an impenetrable shadow with no visible peak.
The descent towards Sisters beach only begins properly at 14 km. This is also a convenient landing; always look below. (I don’t do this and end up with my face flat covered in dirt and a little blood. I’m not the only one.)
But once the trail ends, it’s time to check out Rocky Cape national park. It’s a place of pristine, clear water and secluded bushland, and the only area in Tasmania where Banksia Serrata grows naturally. Vast cave middens, artifacts and rock shelters reveal much about the way of life of First Nations coastal people dating back thousands of years, and there’s the real sensation of walking through rarely touched areas.
In fact, it is touched so rarely that it is easy to lose track of it.
A nice local touch to this event is that organizers consulted local property owners who agreed to clear their land on race day. So you run through cow pastures and past combine harvesters before racing towards the finish.
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This is an edited extract from Weekend Runner Australia by Emma Kemp and is available now via Hardie Grant Explore (RRP $32.99))
• This article was amended on April 16. One image title was changed and another image was removed. An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed two photos to the Two Bays Trail run on Magnetic Island in Queensland.