Canberra Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Canberra Marathon is a road marathon in Australia's capital, run as part of the Canberra Times Marathon Festival on a Sunday in mid April. It starts at 6:15am on King George Terrace in Parkes. The race begins with a loop around Parliament House before heading through Telopea Park, down Kings Avenue and onto Parkes Way, and then runners climb Anzac Parade towards the Australian War Memorial, which the organisers call one of the standout moments of the course. The course is AIMS certified. The festival also has a half marathon, which starts at 7:15am on the same Sunday, and a 10K, 5K and 2K kids dash on the Saturday. The marathon's cut-off is 2pm, about 7.5 hours after the start, with road cut-offs at 6 km, 10 km, 20 km and 25 km. The marathon was first held in November 1976, with 30 starters, and moved to April in 1979. The course records are 2:15:02 for men (John Andrews, 1995) and 2:32:57 for women (Sue Hobson, 1994).