Gold Coast Airport Marathon surpasses entry record
Posted Tuesday, 17 June, 2008
Participation numbers for this year's Gold Coast Airport Marathon have already sprinted past last year's record total of 16,172 with 19 days still to go until race day, Premier Anna Bligh said today from San Diego.
As the event celebrates 30 years on Sunday 6 July, a new record of 18,000 entries is well within reach. The event will be a significant tourism injection for the Gold Coast, said the Premier, who intends being a runner in the Gold Coast Asics Half Marathon.
"There has been a significant increase in entry numbers across all events at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon - the full 42.195km Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Asics Half Marathon, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Gold Coast Bulletin 7.5km Walk and Gold Coast Airport Marathon Junior Dash," she said.
"As the big day draws near, I know there are thousands of feet out there pounding the pavement," said the Premier who completed a 2-hour training run in New York's Central Park early on Saturday morning while on her US Trade Mission.
"I know how hard those last few long training runs can be, my muscles are crying out for mercy!"
Ms Bligh said that the growth in Marathon's participation has been consistent across the key domestic and international markets for the event with approximately 65 percent of the runners and walkers coming from outside the Gold Coast.
Queensland Events Gold Coast has worked in collaboration with Tourism Australia, Tourism Queensland, Gold Coast Tourism and Gold Coast Airport to market the event in key international and domestic markets.
Domestically, close to 2,400 entries have come from New South Wales (up 20 percent from last year), nearly 700 from Victoria (up 40 percent) and a combined 400 from the other States and Territories (up 76 percent).
"Outside of Australia, over 2000 international entries have been received from 25 countries across Asia, Japan, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania and the Pacific Islands, an increase from the records 2007 figures," said Ms Bligh.
"Despite a plateau in Japanese tourism into Queensland, the Gold Coast Airport Marathon has maintained growth in Japanese entrants. More than 1,400 Japanese have entered the event this year, up 12 percent from last year."
"In the current tourism climate, this is a great result for Queensland and evidence of how the Queensland government's investment in major events is paying off for Queenslanders," she said.
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