MELBOURNE MARATHON HISTORY: FROM FRANKSTON TO THE MCG AND AUSTRALIA'S BIGGEST RACE
The Melbourne Marathon was first run on November 5, 1978, as a point-to-point race from Frankston to the Melbourne Town Hall, and it has grown into the largest marathon in Australia, with 50,000 participants across the festival in 2025 and a marathon field of 20,000 planned for 2026. The 2026 edition, on October 11, marks 20 years since the finish moved inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
This is the history of how a milk-sponsored road race became the country's biggest running event.
Frankston to the Town Hall
In the late 1970s, cities around the world followed New York's lead and launched mass-participation marathons. Melbourne's first, sponsored by the milk drink Big M, was announced in June 1978 and held on November 5, the weekend of the Melbourne Cup.
The course was modeled on Boston: point-to-point, starting in the bayside suburb of Frankston and running up the Nepean Highway to finish outside the Town Hall in the city center. More than 2,000 runners took part, most of them arriving at the start on a special early morning train.
Bill Scott, an Olympic 10,000-meter finalist, won the first race in 2:21:04. Elizabeth Hassell of Sydney won the women's race in 2:53:38 and later became the first Australian woman to break 2:40. The race's first director, Ted Paulin, finished eighth.
The Boom Years
The event grew quickly. Andrew Lloyd of Sydney won the next three editions, from 1979 to 1981, starting at age 20, which still makes him the race's youngest winner. Lloyd would go on to win Commonwealth Games gold over 5,000 meters in 1990.
The international field arrived in 1982. Bill Rodgers, the four-time winner of both Boston and New York, won in 2:11:08, a race record that would stand for 28 years. Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania won the next two editions, in 1983 and 1984, and the 1983 race drew more than 6,000 entrants in the same year that Robert de Castella won the world championship marathon in Helsinki.
Winners in the rest of the decade came from Belgium, Switzerland, the United States and Ireland, with times generally between 2:12 and 2:18. On the women's side, Jackie Turney won in 1981 and 1987, and Margaret Reddan of Queensland won back-to-back in 1984 and 1985.
The women's field was tiny by modern standards. About four percent of finishers in 1978 were women, a share that would reach 27 percent by 2019.
Decline and Revival
Like many Southern Hemisphere marathons, Melbourne struggled through the 1990s. The course moved away from the Frankston start over the years and finished at Albert Park or the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road, and winning times slipped into the 2:20s.
Japanese runners won three editions between 1989 and 1995, and South Africa's Daniel Radebe ran 2:12:48 in 1998, the fastest time of the decade. By 2000, Jamie Harrison won in 2:25:53, and Magnus Michelsson took back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004 in a period when the race drew little international attention.
The era still produced some of the race's distinctive records. Winnie Ng of Hong Kong won in 1994 at 41 years and 10 months, the oldest women's winner, and Michael McIntyre of Essendon won in 1999 at 41. Sherryn Rhodes won three times, in 1998, 2002 and 2005, and remains the only woman to win the race three times.
The revival came in 2006, when IMG took over ownership of the event. For the 30th anniversary in 2007, the race was rebuilt around the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the start outside the stadium and a finish that took runners onto the ground for a lap of the arena. Rohan Walker won that first MCG edition in 2:19:16, and he returned in 2010 at age 40 to run 2:18:01, still the fastest time by a masters runner in the race's history.
Entries surged. The Melbourne Marathon has been the biggest marathon in Australia by finishers every year since, and the half marathon and 10-kilometer races held on the same day have each drawn more than 10,000 runners in most years.
The course itself runs through the Royal Botanic Gardens, around Albert Park Lake and along the beaches of Port Phillip Bay at St Kilda before returning to the stadium. Asnake Befikadu of Ethiopia won the second and third MCG editions in 2008 and 2009.
The Fast Course Era
The new, flatter course through the Botanic Gardens, Albert Park and along the bay at St Kilda drew international winners and the best Australians. Japhet Kipkorir of Kenya won in 2010 in 2:11:04, finally beating Rodgers' 1982 mark by four seconds, and defended in 2011.
Pius Ondoro won in 2013 and 2014 and Isaac Birir in 2017 and 2019, giving Kenya three two-time winners in a decade. Australia's Olympians followed. Lisa Weightman won in 2013 in 2:26:05, Jess Trengove in 2015 in 2:27:45, and Liam Adams in 2018 in 2:15:13. The women's course record was set in 2018 by Sinead Diver, who ran 2:25:19 at age 41.
The 2019 race set the participation marks that defined the pre-pandemic era. More than 8,000 entered the marathon and a national record 7,012 finished, one day after Eliud Kipchoge ran the first sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna. Across all events there were 37,185 entries.
Pandemic and Reset
The 2020 race was cancelled in September and replaced with a virtual event. In 2021, with Victoria's restrictions still in force through much of the year, the race moved to December 12 and started at 6:00 a.m. to avoid the heat, with Nike arriving as the new title sponsor. Brett Robinson won in 2:14:32 and Milly Clark in 2:26:59.
Normal service resumed in October 2022 with more than 30,000 participants. Timothy Ronoh of Kenya won in 2:09:12 and set the course record that still stands, collecting a $20,000 bonus for it. Izzi Batt-Doyle ran 2:28:10, the fastest marathon debut by an Australian, behind winner Beatrice Cheptoo in 2:27:48.
The 2023 festival, the 45th, passed 40,000 registered participants for the first time and raised more than $1.5 million for charity, with Beyond Blue joining as a charity partner. Reece Edwards won the men's race in 2:14:54 and Gemma Maini the women's in 2:35:25.
Rayner's Two Titles
The 2024 event sold out within 48 hours of entries opening, with 42,000 registered and a waitlist of 46,000. The course was adjusted to close Fitzroy Street fully for the first time and to return Domain Road to the route, and a 1-kilometer Mini Marathon for children was added. Jack Rayner won the men's race and Genevieve Gregson the women's in 2:28:13, with $25,000 to each winner in the largest prize pool in the race's history.
Rayner defended in 2025 in 2:15:02, winning by one minute and 40 seconds from Steven McKenna despite falling ill the day before the race. Caitlin Adams won the women's race on debut in 2:30:26.
In the half marathon, Haftu Strintzos won in 1:02:13 and Izzi Batt-Doyle set a course record of 1:08:55. The 47th festival, held on October 12, drew 50,000 participants, and the marathon cap grew to 14,500. Ownership passed from IMG to MARI the same year.
The Spartans and the Wheelchair Race
One tradition runs through every era. Runners who complete 10 Melbourne Marathons become Spartans and earn a distinctive singlet, and the club's records show more than 1,400 men and 150 women have qualified. Three Spartan Legends have finished every edition since 1978.
The wheelchair marathon has its own record book. Ian Gainey and Brendon Milgate have each won the race four times, and Milgate's 1:41:07 from 1995 remains the fastest wheelchair time on any Melbourne course.
2026: Two Days and a New Course
The organizers describe 2026 as the biggest change to the festival since the move to the MCG finish. The event expands to two days, October 10 and 11, with the marathon and half marathon both finishing inside the stadium and an estimated 100,000 people expected at the ground across the weekend.
The total field grows to 66,000, and the marathon alone accommodates 20,000 runners, an increase of 38 percent. The redesigned course is faster and flatter, with up to 20 percent less elevation gain, a third fewer turns, and the removal of the Birdwood Avenue to Domain Road climb at 36 kilometers. A tram-free zone between Anzac Station and Federation Square and three and a half hours of exclusive road access for marathon runners round out the changes.
The MCG era has split almost evenly between home and visiting winners. Australians have won eight of the 18 men's races since 2007, Kenyans eight and Ethiopians two, and the women's race has been won by an Australian in 12 of those editions. The event holds a World Athletics Gold Label, which places it in the second tier of the global road-race system.
The records to beat are Ronoh's 2:09:12 and Diver's 2:25:19. Both the marathon and half marathon sold out before the new course was announced, which suggests the 48-year-old race has some distance left in it.