Marathon course will be flat, fast and athletics’ most spectacular
AFTER 11 days of scintillating competition, Gold Coast Games organisers hope the marathon provides the cherry on top with a picturesque course providing images of the city’s iconic beaches to a television audience of more than a billion.
The marathon course for the Games was unveiled yesterday, showcasing a fast, flat course that will please athletes, including wheelchair racers, who compete for the first time at a Commonwealth Games.
The layout will also thrill the city’s tourism officials, with the Coast’s iconic waterways lining the 42.195km course, with the course flanked by the Broadwater and Pacific Ocean.
The marathon will be held on April 15, the final day of the Games.
And after 11 days of flatout action and images of the city being beamed around the world, the marathon provides the perfect entree to the closing ceremony’s finale.
The event also gives fans the chance to line the route, with tens of thousands expected to take advantage of the free event and line the course.
While early consideration was given to a loop course, mainly along the Surfers Paradise foreshore, officials settled on a route that largely mirrors the Gold Coast Marathon route, with a Broadwater Parklands start and finish.
The course unveiled yesterday gives much of the Coast a chance to shine.
GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie said getting the route right was crucial.
“(The marathon) goes for so long and people follow the route and it just showcases the Gold Coast everywhere,” Beattie said.
“It’s just the best marketing tool for the Gold Coast.
“And the fact it’s free encourages people to come.
“In terms of marketing, you couldn’t get a better event to do it – and if I could extend it a bit I would.”
Paralympic and world marathon champion Kurt Fearnley, also a member of the GC2018 sport and technical committee, had a hand in developing the Gold Coast course he will compete on in his last race in Australian colours.
“This is unquestionably the most beautiful course that you will see across the country,” Fearnley said. “It’s the quintessential Australian beach culture that’s going to be shown around the Commonwealth and this is a real advertisement for the region, the running community, the sporting community and the Gold Coast.
“When the Commonwealth Games are here, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and you need community to be on that start line, be lining every metre of that route, because that’s the thing that will get us across that line.”
Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Gold Coast resident Michael Shelley hoped training on the course would give him a homeground advantage.
“About 5km to go you know if you’re going to have a good day or a bad day,” he said.
“You hope you can just keep it together and finish strong.”