§staticmap(2423,3,450,250)Hello, on August 7th 2011, you’ll be organizing the Brisbane Marathon. Can you tell us where it is located?
The Brisbane Running Festival will be located in the heart of Brisbane City. The event will take place at the Brisbane Riverstage, located in the City Botanical Gardens which overlooks the picturesque Brisbane River with views of the iconic Story Bridge. The event is within walking distance of Brisbane’s shopping precinct as well as “a beach in the city” – Southbank.
How old is the race and why was it created in the first place?
The Brisbane Running Festival will be held for the 20th Annual Year in 2011. This makes the event one of the oldest marathon events in Queensland. The event was created to showcase Brisbane’s beautiful scenery and fantastic city of bridges.
Robert de Castella won the 1988 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, the running phenomenon kicked off after this and we have not looked back since.
The course will take in all the sights and sounds of our beautiful city. Starting in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, with runners making their way along the Brisbane River. Runners will then make their way along the Kangaroo Point cliffs and towards Southbank.
Running past “the Big Ferris Wheel” along the water and underneath the William Jolly Bridge towards Orleigh Park. Depending on the course, runners will turn around and run towards the newly established Go Between Bridge which connects South and West Brisbane suburbs. Runners will then continue along Coronation drive towards the famous Regatta Hotel before turning around and making their way towards the finish line.
Runners will then finish within the Brisbane Riverstage, City Botanic Gardens to celebrate their achievements. The course is mostly flat with the only rises being those running over the many bridges in the Brisbane skylight.
How many runners do you expect on Sunday morning? What type of runners do you plan to attract?
The Brisbane Marathon has been described as a “boutique”marathon. The reason for this is that because of our location we are required to limit entries in the marathon event to only 500 competitors.
So we are expecting entries to sell out quickly. We attract runners of all demographics and abilities, from the beginner runner wanting to take on their first 10km Run to the experienced Marathoner looking to take on their personal best. In total we are expecting 3000 competitors – this is a capped limit which we are required to stay within.
Yes, the Brisbane Running Festival encompasses mateship, drive and determination to achieve anything you thought possible. We have 4 events on offer on the 7th of August.
First events will start at 6am being the Half and Full Marathon competitions. At 8.30am we will start the 10km runners and finally we invite first timers and children to participate in the 2km event at 10.30am.
We also showcase all the most popular brands in our Running and Fitness Expo from Saturday 6 – Sunday 7 August 2011.
At that time of the year, what kind of weather can we expect?
The weather in Brisbane is usually perfect running conditions, with a cool start expected in the morning between 7-12 degrees celsius. Brisbane does not see much rain and August has historically been one of the best months with little chance of any clouds, let alone rain!
Our showcase festivities are the “High School Voteout”, all competitors in events will be emphatically cheered on by the local schools. These schools are stationed at the water aid stations and dress up in a particular theme to help motivate and bring a smile to competitors faces.
Each school participating is then voted by competitors with the most popular school being awarded a $1000 cash prize to go towards helping the schools various programmes. All schools who do participate are donated a $300 cash prize regardless of who wins.
The race finished, what advice would you give a runner who has never been to Brisbane before? A good restaurant, a fancy sightseeing?
Once you have reached your goals at the Brisbane Running Festival, we recommend you participate in some of what Brisbane has to offer. We recommend the Bridge Climb, where you are able to climb the Story Bridge which you can see the whole city. Ride a CityCat Ferry and visit the Southbank Markets on Sunday after the event. Or perhaps you could take in some of the fine dining experiences on offer within walking distance of the start line at Eagle Street Pier. Overlook the water while discussing how your race unfolded with a few friends!
In a single sentence, what would you tell the readers of ahotu Marathons to make them register for the Brisbane Marathon?
A competitor from Singapore said on the event:
“The Brisbane Running Festival is a very well organised ‘boutique’ marathon – certainly one not to be missed.”
Mohan Kandiah
Interview with Ricky Swindale one of the key organisers for the Brisbane Running Festival 2011.