AND THE WINNER IS... THE GOLD COAST
LOGIES A ‘SHINING’ SUCCESS MARATHON TO BE EXPANDED
THE Gold Coast has cemented itself as the event capital of Australia during an unprecedented weekend of first class events. The city seamlessly hosted its first Logies awards night and the 40th Gold Coast Marathon, showing not just Australia, but the world, what we can do. Planning is already underway to grow both events, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk determined to leverage the city’s success to secure a bigger slice of the $1.2 billion production industry pie.
GOLD Coast Airport marathon organisers have unveiled an ambitious plan to expand the full marathon after this weekend’s sell-out event.
The 40th marathon attracted more than 30,000 participants across all events and is expected to inject $27 million into the local economy.
This year the 42.2km full marathon sold out after being capped for the first time at 6500 runners.
But Gold Coast Airport Marathon Chairman Kerry Watson said organisers were working to expand the cap to 8000 competitors.
“Our target is to develop our structure to increase the numbers up past 8000 in the next three years,” he said.
“This year we’re probably the largest marathon in the country — we’re really punching above our weight.”
Mr Watson said the only anticipated problem was a narrow section of the course along Hedges Ave at Mermaid Beach where support cars would pass too close to runners if more were included.
He said diverting the route to the Gold Coast Hwy could overcome this problem.
The long-time chairman said this year’s success was in part thanks to a large increase in the number of international competitors.
“The markets we are dealing in, such as Japan, China, Malaysia and Singapore, have significant populations, so their capacity for growth is quite large,” he said.
He said the quality of the marathon, which is ranked as “Gold Label” by the International Association of Athletics Federations, was a big part of the event’s attraction.
“During the next month it will be broadcast to 91 countries with a potential audience in excess of 800 million, which is the largest exposure of the Gold Coast or any other destination through television compared to any other sport,” Mr Watson said.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones said she was aware of plans to expand.
She said the event was in a strong position with a large number of first-time marathon runners and growth in overseas competitor numbers.
“I think we’ve seen a bump in overseas popularity because of the Commonwealth Games... and it’s a great way to celebrate the marathon’s 40th year.”