The Sydney Marathon: Australia’s Largest Mass Participation Event
More than 17,000 runners took to the streets of Sydney last Sunday to participate in the largest marathon ever held in Australia. A legacy event of the Sydney Olympics, the 42-kilometre course starts by crossing the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, before ducking down along the foreshore, weaving through Centennial Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and then finally heading to the finish line at the Sydney Opera House.
Unseasonably warm spring temperatures led race directors to increase hydration along the course, installing misting stations and providing ice and electrolytes to runners. Despite over 400,000 cups of water being handed out, 26 participants ended up in hospital for heat-related issues, with seven in a serious condition.
While that may seem high, the relentless nature of the marathon means an event of this size will unfortunately always see hospitalisations. A long-term study of the London Marathon, one of the world’s largest, found that one person was hospitalised for every 787 runners: a comparable ratio to the numbers recorded in Sydney on Sunday.
Two athletes who appeared less susceptible to the heat were Morocco’s Othman El Goumri and USA’s Betsy Saina, both of whom were able to claim their maiden Sydney Marathon titles.
Men
A steady early pace saw the lead group of athletes still together as they ticked over halfway. Shortly thereafter, Othman El Goumri made his long bid for home and quickly separated himself from the pack, with only Gabriel Geay of Tanzania for company. Arguably the pre-race favourite, Geay ran the eighth-fastest marathon of all time when he clocked 2:03:00 in Valencia last year. Perhaps even more impressively, Geay is also part of a very exclusive group of athletes to have bested Eliud Kipchoge over the marathon, a feat he accomplished earlier this year in Boston. The title of GOAT (greatest of all time) is doled out in sporting circles more often than it should be, but in the case of Kipchoge, it is indisputable. So, when Geay got the better of the world record holder and Olympic champion, he firmly established himself as one of the best in the world.
However, after a brief duel with El Goumri around Centennial Park, Geay would soon feel the effects of the heat, fading to third and eventually dropping out of the race.
El Goumri forged on, winning in 2:08:19. Kenya’s Laban Kipngetich was second in 2:08:43, with Ethiopia’s Getaneh Molla finishing third in 2:11:20.
Speaking through an Arabic translator after the race, El Goumri dedicated his win to his home country of Morocco, which has recently been hit by a deadly earthquake.
“It [the earthquakes] affected him a lot…he’s got loved ones who are affected. At some points, he did not think he would make the trip to Sydney. But, at the last minute, he decided to come. This victory is for them. He is wearing this armband in solidarity with the people of Morocco.”
Oceanian record-holder Brett Robinson also struggled in the heat. Starting strong, the Melbourne athlete quickly began to falter, running the second half of the race almost seven minutes slower than the first. Robinson has had a rocky relationship with the marathon, only finding his form in the last two years. However, today’s 2:23:04 showed once again what a cruel beast the marathon can be.
The Australian’s first two attempts at the distance took place in Fukuoka, Japan, where he failed to finish the race both times. His first successful finish would come in London in 2019, but a big positive split derailed his hopes of a fast time. (A positive split is when an athlete runs the first half of a race faster than the second half, which often exaggerates their fatigue towards the end. Conventional wisdom holds that athletes should aim for an even or a negative split to run a good time). Another attempt in New York at the end of 2019 saw an even more disastrous positive split, with Robinson running the second half 13 minutes slower than the first. Yet another DNF (did not finish) in 2020 at the London Marathon, and a 65th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics spelled more disaster for the Melbournian, and it seemed that he was simply not suited to the distance. However, the last two years have played witness to an impressive comeback. After winning his home marathon in Melbourne at the end of 2021, Robinson broke 2:10 for the first time in his career when he finished eighth at the London Marathon. He then returned to the ill-fated site of his two failed marathons in Fukuoka to set the Australian record of 2:07:31 and finish fourth, before heading back to London earlier this year and placing seventh.
Nevertheless, when the marathon rears its ugly head, there is not much one can do about it. Fortunately for Robinson, he was the only professional Australian runner in the field, which meant that, despite fading in the latter stages, he was still able to cross the line as the first Australian and claim the national marathon title in the process. As uncomfortable as the performance must have been, he still enjoyed the closing stages in front of Sydney’s most iconic views.
“That finish is ridiculous,” Robinson said after the race. “No matter how much you’re hurting, when you go around the corner and see the Opera House, that’s a highlight for sure.”
Women
On the women’s side, Betsy Saina formed part of a lead pack that reached the 30km mark with many athletes still in contention. However, just like in the men’s race, when Saina made her move through Centennial Park, she had only one athlete for company.
Rahma Tusa of Ethiopia stayed on Saina’s shoulder for the best part of 20 minutes, but an injection of pace with just two kilometres remaining finally allowed the American to open up a gap. A late charge from Tusa made for an exciting finish as she reduced the gap from 16 seconds to just six, but Saina held her nerve to win in 2:26:47.
“When you come here for the first time, you don’t know what to expect,” Saina said. “I heard different stories, some people say it is really hard, some people say it’s uphill and downhill ... it’s not an easy course for sure, it’s a big challenge. But I am so happy.”
Australian record-holder Sinead Diver, 46, won the Australian marathon title in 2:31:27, finishing eighth overall.
“It’s a hilly course and it was quite warm today, but I absolutely loved it. It was the best finish to a marathon I have ever had, for sure,” Diver said in a post-race interview.
Sydney Marathon in a race of its own
The Sydney Marathon is in its second year of a three-year candidacy process, as it attempts to outbid South Africa’s Cape Town Marathon and China’s Chengdu Marathon to become the seventh World Marathon Major.
The World Marathon Majors governing body decides which events are granted “major” status. If accepted, the Sydney Marathon would join the Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, and New York marathons as one of the world’s largest mass participation running events.
Support for Sydney to become one of the majors is widespread in the athletics community. Australian running legend and former Commonwealth Games champion, Steve Moneghetti, is an adviser to the Sydney Marathon and believes the event can equal that of any other.
“I can tell you that in all the world’s top marathons, and I ran a fair few of them, that no one has anything close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House on the course. They are iconic.”
It is not just running fanatics who are excited about Sydney’s potential inclusion into the World Marathon Majors. Destination NSW is getting involved because the tourism industry stands to benefit tremendously, with studies showing cities get a massive financial boost from these events. The Chicago Marathon, which is one of the six majors, generated almost $600 million for the city’s economy last year and is expected to produce similar numbers when the event runs early next month.
While this year’s running of the Sydney Marathon was a resounding success, there are still boxes to tick if it is to be included in the World Marathon Majors by 2025. Nevertheless, the event was praised by organisers of the six current World Marathon Majors, all of whom were in attendance on Sunday.
London Marathon boss, Hugh Brasher, particularly enjoyed the experience.
“The Sydney Marathon is epic…Sydney is on the road to being a major. Sydney, London, New York, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago — it sounds right. Sydney should be there.”
New York City Marathon organiser, Ted Metellus, is also confident that Sydney will achieve World Marathon Major status.
“They [the Sydney Marathon organisers] are on their way to making the event a major…they are on the track and working hard to get there.”
You can access the full results from the 2023 Sydney Marathon here.