REMEMBER WHEN

A RECORD number of competitors rose at dawn to stumble, sweat, grimace and pound their way through the 26th Gold Coast Marathon.

After almost 12,000 local and international runners showed a staggering display of support for the event, organisers were contemplating whether to expand the 2005 marathon into a festival rather than a one-day competition.

Event general manager Cameron Hart said the marathon had again risen to new heights and would get even “bigger and better”.

"We’ll look at the event lasting two to three days, with the race still on one day but with supplementary events such as shorter warm-up runs in the days before it,’’ he said.

"We’ll also have the participants getting here a few days early to attend, for example, motivational seminars on preparing for marathons.”

Queensland Events chairman Des Power said the “best ever” marathon had cemented the event as one of the region’s greatest.

He claimed it was firmly poised to become one of the world’s best-known long distance competitions.

“The sky’s the limit – the marathon is now an indelible part of the Gold Coast,” he said.

“I can’t imagine the place without it.”

He said the record crowds pounding the pavement were not only great news for the marathon but for Gold Coast tourism as a whole.

“The image of thousands of runners crossing over the (Sundale) bridge is an image that travels the world,” he said.

“What better way to sell the place?”