2025 Melbourne Marathon Registrations – Opening November 27
The various ways to enter the 2025 Melbourne Marathon are listed on the Melbourne Marathon website. If you scroll down you will see this message to Spartans, to the right of a photo of some of the Legends.
As in 2024, links to enable guaranteed entry will be sent to Spartans some time after November 27. We will provide further information as it becomes available.
2024 Marathon Complete
We have just completed processing the 2024 results. There were 257 existing Spartans and 59 new Spartans who ran their tenth, making a total of 316. No wonder there were Spartan singlets everywhere! The Hall of Fame page has been updated, listing all Spartans with 15 or more finishes.
We have completed publishing close to 250 podium photos. They are great, thanks to Felicity Doolan and Di Lee!
Dion Finocchiaro S1476 placed 9th in a time of 2:23:45 – congratulations!
Here is the Channel 9 news item. Legend John Dobson features!
Membership Secretary Felicity Doolan has checked results and allocated numbers for 58 incoming Spartans.
2024 Expo Tent
Committee member Candida Baskcomb was there Thursday morning and other committee members will be in attendance while the expo is open.
2024 Annual General Meeting 16 September
Approximately 240 Spartans and guests enjoyed the 2024 Annual General Meeting. The photo below (thanks Kai Ooi) shows guest speaker Oscar Carlson (S96) sharing his journey through life. These words sum up Oscar: “Over the years, I have come to understand that life is not just about surviving challenges – it’s about pushing past our limits, discovering new capacities within ourselves, and, most importantly, showing others that they can do the same.”
The picture also shows Spartan Hamish Blair (S1423) in action with one of his cameras. Hamish has provided the images of all presentations and we have created the 2024 AGM Photos page. See here www.hamishblair.com.au/ for a taste of Hamish’s work.
Next Club Run Sunday November 24
Photos from the previous club runs are here. The next club run will be Sunday November 24.
Note that club runs are scheduled for the fourth Sunday of every month except December.
August 2024 Newsletter
View or download the August 2024 newsletter.
- President Jay Fleming waxes lyrical on the Olympics;
- Charles “Chas” Harcoan’s story – a determined bugger;
- Kester Baines tells his story;
- More Annual General Meeting details;
- A brief appreciation of Rod Bayley who has resigned as Treasurer after 14 years;
- A tribute to Judy Wines, a 25 MM Spartan and stalwart of Melbourne Running;
Are You a Spartan Unable To Register for the 2024 Event?
All Spartans with a finish in the last three years should have received an email link, in November 2023, from IMG that can be used to enter the 2024 event valid until early October. A few Spartans missed seeing this link and have been unable to register via the General Allocation. If this applies to you, contact the club ([email protected]) and we will ask IMG to resend the link.
If you have nine Melbournes and have missed out on a place, please contact us. Sadly, we are unable to help anyone with fewer than nine finishes.
Stephen Barker, Ballarat Marathon Triumph
Stephen Barker S368 is a Spartans Hall of Fame Member having completed 36 Melbourne Marathons. His best time is 3:25:15 achieved in 1993 at the age of 49. He is also a passionate Comrades Ultra competitor. Last weekend he ran his 89th marathon in total at Ballarat. Watch the video!
He was assisted by fellow Spartan and Hall of Fame member John Kaparelis S0749.
There were several Spartans at Ballarat as competitors, pacers or acting as on-course support. Well done to all of you, it was a marvellous event from all reports.
2023 Melbourne Marathon Results Book Now Available
The 2023 results eBook is now available. Results books for other years are listed here.
Video of 2023 Marathon Live Stream
Here is a six hour 10 minute video of the 2023 event. Spartan Secretary Pamela Young is interviewed at around 5 hours 54 minutes. John Dobson (45th Melbourne) and Hilton Kahlberg (100th marathon) also appear around this time. Ian Gainey is shown in the last minute or so of the video.
Numbers Have Now Been Allocated for All Spartans
Membership Secretary Felicity Doolan has now allocated numbers for all incoming Spartans. The complete list of members can be found here.
2023 Marathon Completed
Congratulations to the many Spartans who finished the 2023 event. At 7945 finishers it was the largest yet.
The Spartans tent was as busy as usual, and the initiative of presenting certificates to incoming Spartans well received. Thanks to John Dean for making the presentations.
Felicity Doolan and friends once again photographed finishers. These have now been uploaded.
Paul Basile and Jay Fleming did a magnificent job organising and managing the Expo and Finishers tent. Colin Silcock-Delaney once again was everywhere.
Strava Group
We have set up a new Strava group for members as the original group was accidentally deleted: Melbourne Marathon Spartan Strava group.
For those that are new to Strava, it is currently the world’s number one app for runners to log their training runs. No GPS watch is necessary (though obviously useful) and technically no smart phone is either, as you could also manually upload your runs to it, or simply just use it to see what other runs people are doing, so that you get some inspiration or ideas about running routes.
We look forward to seeing you on Strava and out on the runs.
2023 AGM
The 2023 AGM has been held at the MCG with a large audience enthralled by guest speakers Nikki Wynd and David Eadie.
The two photos below have been provided by Patty and Wayne Thompson.
Peter Ryan, Wayne Thompson, David Foskey, John Dobson, Bruce Hargreaves, Roger Weinstein, John Dean, Peter Battrick, Nev Gardner.
Frank Biviano was unable to attend.
Spartan Tattoos
We have collected photographs from members who have shown their pride in being Spartans by getting a tattoo.
Pakenham Parkrun Spartans
The photo below shows the tattoos of Michael Soutter and Tony.
2022 Spartan Numbers have Been Allocated
All incoming Spartans have now been notified of their lifetime Spartan number. See the updated list of all Spartans.
2022 Finish Photos Have Been Published
Photos taken at the Spartan podium after the finish line have now been published.
Spartans Stand at Marathon Expo
Our stand at the Expo will be active from Thursday to Saturday. Please come along to have a chat and perhaps browse some memorabilia or buy some merchandise.
The picture at left shows Ken Watt (S844) , Colin Silcock-Delaney (S147), Jay Fleming (S1012) and David Foskey (S25) outside the stand Thursday. 128 MMs total!
New, Melbourne Based Supplier of Club Jackets
We now have a new supplier of club jackets. See here for details.
Fully Promoted St Kilda (formerly EmbroidMe), are at 290 St Kilda Road, St Kilda. Victoria. 3182 (near Inkerman St).
They have jackets in store, so you can visit them if you are unsure about sizing.
PDF of Victorian Marathon Club (VMC) History
The VMC was an integral part of Victorian running history between 1946 and 1994. We have made available a PDF of a memoir covering its history. Recommended reading.
February 2022 Newsletter Released
View or download the February 2022 newsletter.
- “From the President” looking forward to an exciting year ;
- Spartans Calendar – do you aspire to be Ms/Mr May? (page 10);
- Darren Chester MP shares his running story (page 3)
- Vale Westly Windsor (page 2)
- Want a club T-Shirt? – order now! (page 8)
2021 Results Processed
We have now allocated numbers to new Spartans and updated the listings for Hall of Fame runners, including Spartans who have run at least 15 Melbourne marathons.
2021 Melbourne Marathon Has Been Run, Finish Photographs Posted
Some 26 months after the 2019 Melbourne, the 2021 marathon has been run with close to 5000 finishers. The organisers must be thanked and congratulated for a successful event.
We greatly missed our Spartan tent, and the Expo, but the photographs at the finish should become a feature of future marathons. Felicity Doolan, Paul Basile and Colin Silcock-Delaney took many photos! Photos have now been posted here and there are more here.
Congratulations to all Spartans who competed. Our singlets were everywhere! Registration Secretary Felicity Doolan has sent letters to all runners who completed their tenth, recognising the feat and allocating lifetime Spartan numbers.
Channel 9 December 12 This is the Channel 9 News story the evening of the marathon. John Dobson (1min10) and Ian Gainey (1m20) are interviewed.
Channel 7 December 12 John and Ian are both interviewed early in the Channel 7 News story shown on the evening of the marathon.
The five Spartan Legends (John Dobson, David Foskey, Bruce Hargreaves, Wayne Thompson and Roger Weinstein) all finished. There was attrition, however, amongst those who had only missed one. Nev Gardner and Dennis Nish did not start due to health and injury issues. Bryan Flegg did start despite a knee injury which had greatly reduced his training capacity but was unable to finish. Charles Harcoan finished his 42nd in the tidy time of 5:39 a week before his 82nd birthday! Jim Hopkins and Ian Campbell both ran their 41st. Grayson Summers became the 13th Spartan to reach 40. Ken Bowes who had run 40, decided that 2021 was the time to drop back to the half, possibly because he turned 89 a week ago!
Stuart Thompson has taken this video of the start in MP4 format. It is six minutes long and many Spartans will be able to identify themselves. Wayne Thompson appears at the 50 second mark and high-fives his family. Bruce Hargreaves and Kerry Clapham go by at one minute 50 seconds.
The youtube video of the livestream (5plus hours) is here. Highlights include David Foskey at 8m15 dispensing wisdom to first timers which he then ignored himself, the start is at 18m20, the wheelchair start (Ian Gainey in his 30th) at 1h12m, the male winner from 2h27m and the female winner from 2h42m.
Official Results and Digital Booklet Timing
Although the results as published are close to complete, there is a possibility that more changes will be made in the following weeks. The digital booklet of all results is expected to be shared in mid January 2022.
This is an old-timer’s digression, but in the good old days the printed result book always arrived just in time for Christmas.
Legends Radio Interview
The five Legends and Ian Gainey were interviewed on Sporty a radio National program. You can hear it online at anytime.
Marathon Mission
Andrew Prestney (S1147) is the father of Josh Prestney who was one of the four police officers who died in the infamous Eastern Freeway crash. Josh was a keen runner, and Andrew is running this year’s Melbourne Marathon in his honour. Channel 7 News featured Andrew and Belinda (pictured at left in a still from the video) in a recent News story.
It will be Andrew’s 16th Melbourne having earned his blue singlet in 2017. His best time was 3 hours and 50 seconds in 2009.
Andrew has given permission for us to link to the video.
Albert Melbourne Parkrun – the first 10 Years
Vin Martin (S0478) has written a history of the first 10 years of Albert Parkrun which was Melbourne’s first Parkrun, and remains the biggest. Run Director Scott Watkins has contributed many photographs and additional text.
Just a suggestion: if you are a Parkrunner without another club affiliation, nominate “Spartans” as your club.
Photos of Spartans Running on the 10th of October
Sunday October 10 was the original date for the 2021 marathon so we asked Spartans to send us photographs from their training runs. Many were out and about on a day that would have been ideal for the event. We had many photos.
2021 Nike Melbourne Marathon – Sunday, 12 December
The 2021 Melbourne Marathon has been rescheduled to start at 6am, Sunday the 12th of December. The half marathon will also be held on Sunday. The 10km, 5km and 3km events will be run on the afternoon of Saturday 11 December.
Latest information is on the Melbourne Marathon website.
See a Channel 9 News story
2021 Annual General Meeting, September 13
The AGM was again successfully held over Zoom. In lieu of physical singlet presentation, the names of incoming and milestone Spartans were read to the meeting, and those present were acknowledged by the meeting.
Marcus Gale – Vice President, Events – IMG addressed us and released the current plans for the 2021 event as shown above.
Spartan Legend Bruce “Digger” Hargreaves was the speaker and his multi-media presentation was very well received.
Burnley Runners History
Spartan Vin Martin has written the definitive history of the Burnley Runners. More details and download here.
Nike is New Major Sponsor for 2021 Marathon!
Melbourne Marathon has announced that Nike is to be the major sponsor of the Melbourne Marathon Festival for 2021 and following years.
“2019 was a record year for participation and we’re excited to return this year as the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival,” said Marcus Gale, Event Director for IMG. “We’re dedicated to creating a unique marathon experience for runners and are confident this partnership with Nike will cement our position locally as the preeminent Marathon Festival in Australia, and propel the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival into global significance.”
Legend Wayne Thompson Article in “The Senior”
Wayne Thompson’s virtual Melbourne Marathon is the subject of a recent story in the Victorian edition of “The Senior”. Click on the image at left to see a readable version of the story.
We are always interested in stories of Spartans. Here is one that goes back to 2019 featuring Ken Bowes.
Virtual Melbourne Marathon
The virtual Melbourne Marathon was run in the period December 5 – 13. See here for results. Almost 4000 people participated over the five distances including an unknown number of Spartans.
If you would like to share your experiences please contact David Foskey at [email protected]. See this page for contributions so far.
2020 Online Annual General Meeting
Our 2020 Annual General Meeting was held online via Zoom on the 14th of September. We estimate that close to 100 Spartans and guests joined us.
Highlights of the meeting:
- John Dean stood down from the committee after 32 (yes thirty two) years of service to the club;
- Other members of the 2019-2020 committee were re-elected. John Zeleznikow and Kai Ooi joined the committee.
- As singlet presentations were impossible, the names of incoming and milestone Spartans were read out. Those present at the meeting were congratulated, and through the wonders of Zoom, appeared on the screens of all meeting participants;
- Marcus Gale, Events Director IMG, spoke of the many issues IMG faced in attempting to find a way to hold the 2020 event and the reasoning behind the virtual event.
We can’t publish the normal series of AGM photographs but the above photograph shows some of the members present before the meeting officially started. There are a small number of photos here.
2020 Melbourne Marathon Cancelled
We note with regret that the 2020 Melbourne Marathon has been officially cancelled, although all Spartans have long realised that it would not be possible for it to be run.
Melbourne Marathon has announced that there will be a virtual Melbourne Marathon offered from the 5th to the 13th of December. We encourage Spartans to participate in this event, but the Spartans Committee recently decided that a virtual run would not be recognised as an official Spartan marathon.
There are several reasons, including:
- We believe that everyone should run under the same conditions, on the same day and on the same measured and marshalled course;
- The December date could see dangerously hot conditions for Melbourne runners;
- The change in date and recent uncertainty means that most Spartans will have had their training schedules severely disrupted;
- We believe that times in a virtual marathon will be slower than for a normal event, and some Spartans would be in danger of missing the cut-off time;
- The organisers of the New York and other international marathons are not considering virtual marathons as official events;
- The very small number of runners who cheat might view the virtual conditions as an opportunity.
Incoming Spartans who have paid their membership for 2020/21 will be made financial for 2021/22.
Videos We Have Found While In Isolation
Ross Tucker, a South African exercise scientist, talks about the links between exercise and our immune systems. Ross studied under “Lore of Running” author Tim Noakes. Here is a second video dealing with the effects of detraining, and ways of reducing fitness loss. Here’s one that investigates the link between exercise and aging Spoiler alert: exercise is a really good idea if you want to age more slowly.
For those of us missing Parkruns, here are the five toughest UK runs.
Not a video, but a story about a very fit 70plus Melbourne runner, Tony Guttman, who contracted Covid-19. Tony often wins his age group at Albert Parkrun, has run a few Melbournes, but is not a Spartan.
Bruce Hargreaves has set up a Youtube Channel which links to a large range of running related videos, including several from early years of the Melbourne Marathon.
Here’s a podcast featuring Bruce “Digger” Hargreaves. It is more Comrades focussed but Bruce does explain his introduction to running and his first Melbourne. Bruce’s interview starts about 45 minutes in.
If you have found something that might be of interest to house bound Spartans, contact [email protected]
2019 Marathon Completed
The 2019 Melbourne Marathon was run in very good conditions with an Australian record number of finishers. There seemed to be a lot of Spartan singlets on the course which is always great to see. We would like to congratulate all finishers, and especially those who completed their tenth Melbourne.
Incoming Spartans have been notified of their Spartan numbers. They are now included on the list of all Spartans.
We obviously can’t speak for everyone, but it seems that we had very few non-finishers. All starters with 40 or more Melbourne marathons finished. Ken Bowes, who is 86, completed his 40th. Seeing he missed the first two, that is 40 consecutive Melbournes. Jim Hopkins turned 70 on marathon day, and couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than running his 40th Melbourne. Ian Campbell was unable to start in 2018 but also brought up his 40th in 2019. Congratulations to Ken, Jim and Ian.
Anyone who has a story or photographs of marathon day is invited to contact [email protected]. We are starting to build a page of photos taken before, during and after the marathon.
The five remaining Legends were featured on the Channel 7 News on Saturday night.
The official results are now available. Here’s an extract: “Special mention also to Charles Harcoan, who turns 80 in December, and finished in 5:27.30, well inside Antony Martin’s 80-84 best of 5:38.09. Chas missed the first Melbourne race in 1978 but has completed every one since, but he’ll have to wait till next year to remove Antony’s mark.” It would be sad to see Tony’s (S0133) mark broken, but Chas (S0120) would be a worthy record-holder.
2019 AGM Held
The 2019 Annual General Meeting of the Melbourne Marathon Spartans was held Monday, September 16 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There was a big crowd in the AFL Dining Room which saw a large number of singlet presentations. Guest speaker Doug Wilson took us on a journey through his life which will not be forgotten by his audience. Fascinating and detailed as the talk was, Doug’s book is recommended reading. The book will also be available at the pre-race expo.
The photographs taken on the evening have been posted. See here.
Active Feet Store Visits
Some Spartans spent part of a recent Saturday visiting Active Feet stores.
Not on our mailing list? Click here.
Page Showing Every Finisher Medal
See a new page that shows images of every finisher medal..
2018 Marathon Completed
There weren’t many personal bests for the 41st running of the Melbourne Marathon. Conditions were trying with above normal temperatures and some wind. A larger than normal number of runners required treatment for dehydration and the effects of heat. The record number of inductees at the recent AGM undoubtedly lead to many more green singlets in the field, 242 Spartans according to our count. We have four new 40 year runners: Bryan Flegg, Nev Gardner, Chas Harcoan and Dennis Nish. Five of the Legends finished with Frank Biviano unable to start because of injury. We welcome Tyler Parfuss, a third CPEC student, as an honorary Spartan.
The electronic results book for the 2018 Melbourne Marathon Festival can be read or downloaded from from here.
We have updated the All Spartans page with the 2018 inductees.
Friday at the 2018 Expo
A session on the Spartans stand at the Expo means we get to meet a range of Spartans and runners. We talk to visiting German ladies who are running the 10km, runners who are five or one run away from their green singlet and 30 year plus Spartans. Sonia O’Sullivan was one of the many who dropped in for a chat.
We have a small number of members resident overseas but Mitsuo Yonemori must be our most dedicated. Mitsuo is running his 20th Melbourne in 2018 and dropped in to the tent to pick up his red singlet on Friday afternoon after his flight arrived from Japan. We are greatly honoured that Mitsuo is a member and perhaps we will present him with a black singlet in five years.
Mitsuo kindly answered a few questions from us some years ago.
Treasurer Rod Bayley is pictured with Mitsuo at left.
What’s New?
We’ve made a few recent changes:
- Members can now purchase Spartan jackets.
- Initial report on 2018 Annual General Meeting – see below and here for photographs.
- We’ve created a page about Colin Silcock-Delaney, one of our club stalwarts. You might know him from the AGM,
the Expo or the marathon tents. - A page where you can see all recent newsletters. We’ve also found quite a few of the first newsletters ever issued by the club, and these make fascinating reading.
- A tributes page, where deceased Spartans are honoured. Contributions are welcome.
- We’ve extracted interviews with Spartans from the 2007 telecast of the marathon.
- The Hall of Fame Page (for Spartans who have completed 30 or more Melbournes) now includes the names of Spartans who have run 15 or more Melbournes.
- Here is a link to a paper that looks at demographic changes in Adelaide Marathon finishers. The Adelaide Marathon has been running since 1979, and Ian Hill has extracted a lot of interesting information from the results.
2018 Annual General Meeting
The 2018 Annual General Meeting was held on October 2 at the MCG. There was a record attendance and a record number of incoming Spartans, plus a presentation to our third honorary Spartan and the presentation of two Life Memberships. Guest speaker Sonia O’Sullivan gave a fascinating account of her career and revealed many insights into her training.
There is a page holding all photographs.
There were so many incoming Spartans that a group shot of the entire group was impossible. This photo shows the women.
These gentleman will each be running their 40th Melbourne Marathon this year.Manny Karageorgiou
It is with great sadness that we report that Legend Manny Karageorgiou (S0045) lost his long battle with Multiple Myeloma January 4th 2018.
Manny is third from left in this photograph with the other Spartan Legends prior to the start of the 2017 marathon. He knew that he was too ill to complete the event, but was determined to start, wearing his gold 40th singlet. The Legends were delighted to see him, but greatly saddened by the thought that he would be unable to finish.
His fastest marathon of 3hr26min51sec was set in 2001. We don’t have many pictures of Manny, but the image at left shows him leading me (David Foskey) home in 1998 in a time of 3hr42min. Two or three years ago I ran several kilometres with him along Beach Road, and I was impressed by the large number of relatives and friends who had come to watch and support him. He isn’t wearing a gold singlet in this photograph, and I believe that he ran without a Spartan singlet in some other years. I’m not sure why, but it could have been excess modesty on his part.
See more information on Manny here and also as one of the Legends.
2017 Melbourne Marathon
The 40th Melbourne Marathon has now been run under ideal conditions. Congratulations to all Spartans who ran, whether they were running their 10th or qualifying for a singlet.
We were thrilled to host three ladies from the Teganuma Marathon.
Electronic Results book
Thanks to IMG, there is an electronic results book for the 2017 Melbourne Marathon Festival. A link was sent by email to all participants and to make it even more accessible you can read or download it from here.
2017 Annual General Meeting
The AGM was most successful with a record crowd, entertained and enlightened by guest speaker Rob de Castella.
A full set of photographs has been loaded on this page.
The picture below shows the 10 year Spartans with Rob de Castella at left.
Herald-Sun Articles
The Herald Sun has recently run two articles featuring Spartans. This first article appeared on June 18 and includes some of the Legends prior to the start. Wayne Thompson’s grandchildren are pictured. Dennis Nish and Jim Hopkins (at left) both ran in 1978 and will be running in 2017. This was on the Herald-Sun, Geelong Advertiser and News.com.au websites on the 26th of June. It is also in the 27th of June print edition.
A full PDF of the June 18 feature is big and will be slow to load.
Spartans at VRR Time Trials
We now have a page showing photographs of Spartans at recent Victorian Road Runner Time Trials. This page has links to the VRR site.
Guide to Running from Legend Wayne Thompson
Wayne Thompson has provided a guide to running. His credentials are impeccable. Wayne will be running his 40th Melbourne this year as one of the Legends. In 2016 he ran the very smart time of 3 hours 33 minutes.
Vale Jack Gubbins
It is with great sadness that we report that Jack Gubbins (S0037) passed away suddenly on Saturday March 11, a few days prior to his 88th birthday.
Jack was one of the original “Legends” who completed the first 30 Melbourne Marathons. His athletic career included 51 marathons and a number of Ironman triathlons. The trophy for the fastest male Spartan each year is named in his honour.
Jack was regarded by all who knew him as a true gentleman. The photograph shows Jack with fellow Legends Shirley Young and Peter Battrick. The April newsletter included a tribute written by Pete Battrick.
See 2007 video.
2016 Marathon Over
The weather gods were relatively kind on the 16th except for some wind. Watching the drink cups blowing down the road brought home just how much we owe the volunteers, staff, and police who help make our event possible.
Many Spartans went back to the tent to enjoy snacks, drinks, and a massage. We will publish the full Spartan results when they are available.
The photo at left shows honorary Spartan Tate Kemp near the finish line.
Fellow honorary Spartan Brenton Ponza features in this video made before the event. Like Tate, Brenton is proudly wearing his Spartan singlet.
The Herald Sun report is here.
The photo below was taken at the Expo in front of the Spartan tent. Pictured are John Kaparelis (committee member), Jane Sturzaker, and David Foskey(committee member). Jane was two days away from running her 200th marathon, and her 18th Melbourne.
If you have some 2016 marathon photos featuring Spartans, please send them to [email protected], and we’ll create a page.
2016 AGM
A very successful 2016 Annual General Meeting was run on September 19. Many singlets were presented, including our first honorary Spartans and three members were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Tom Denniss gave an inspirational talk on his run around the world.
See here for photographs.
Two Honorary Spartans
Tate Kemp and Brenton Ponza attended our AGM on September 19 to be inducted as honorary Spartans. Click on the links to learn more about two inspirational young people.
Shirley Young.
Spartan Legend Shirley Young peacefully passed away on July 8 2016 after a long illness. The President and Committee of the Melbourne Marathon Spartans Club wishes to extend condolences to Shirley’s husband Ron, her family and friends.
Shirley was the only female among the 13 Legends who reached 30 Melbourne Marathons, 1978 to 2007. Her Melbourne Marathon record is outstanding, but it only constitutes part of a magnificent running career.
Tan Run with Bruce Fordyce, 9am Sunday July 17, 2016.
See here for pictures and description of the run.
New Financial Members page added
We’ve added a page, courtesy of Treasurer Rod Bayley, that lists all financial members . Check it if you aren’t sure whether you’ve paid.
PDF of 2015 results
ausrunning.net has made available a PDF of the 2015 results. Spartan numbers are included!
2015 Annual General Meeting
The meeting was held on September 14. Lavinia Petrie gave an inspirational talk and handed out singlets. Photographs have now been posted. The photo below shows the incoming Spartans after singlets were presented.
Race Photographs
John Dean has made available an archive of images of the Melbourne Marathon covering the period 1978 to 2010.
Club Run – 5 July 2015
Our first club run for 2015 attracted 17 runners who did one or two laps around the Tan, then adjourned to the Jardin Tan eatery for refreshments.
David Foskey, Nev Gardner, Cath Bombardieri, Roger Weinstein, John Dobson, Peter Ryan, Dennis Nish, Justin Hansen, Mike Zervos, Jay Fleming, Ray Cilia, Brian Walsh, Frank Biviano, Bryan Flegg, Antony Martin, Felicity Doolan, Carli Iovenitti.
More details and photographs here on the Club Runs page.
Incoming Spartan Jogging through Ireland
Simon Chodziesner will run his 10th Melbourne Marathon this year. His training regime includes running from the southern tip of Ireland to the northenmost tip in 18 days. Distance is 570k. He is raising money for Cystic Fibrosis Victoria in Australia and Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital in Ireland. Details of the run and how to donate here and Facebook page here.
Spartans in June July run4yourlife magazine
On the left is Gary Russell. not far from the finish of his 14th Melbourne.
On the right are legends Wayne Thompson and John Dobson at the start. See the Melbourne Marathon site Spartans page to see more photos of Spartans.
Legend Nev Gardner also umpires football!
See a recent newspaper article on the occasion of Nev’s 800th game – pity they couldn’t spell his name correctly, but hey, they were close!
Eric Heine – Marathon des Sables
Eric Heine (S0872) has entered the 2015 Marathon des Sables with his son and some friends. They are supporting Robert de Castella’s Indigenous Marathon Project. Full details on this page.
April 18 Edit. Eric and the team have completed this unique event and have posted details. It is a fascinating read.
Rohan King
See here for a tribute to Rohan King S1038.
2014 Results
See Ausrunning.net for a PDF of the 2014 results. Spartan numbers included, even 2014 inductees! All events are on this PDF.
Pre and After Race photos
See this page for some photos from the expo and from the Spartans tent after the run.
2014 – 39 New Spartans
We’ve updated our list of all Spartans with 39 new runners. Congratulations! The hot conditions and injury prevented a small number of runners completing their 10th – we hope that 2015 will be the year for them.
The times for all Spartans will be added when available.
2014 Marathon Run
6415 runners completed the 2014 Melbourne Marathon on the hottest day for more than 6 months. Over the next few weeks we will list the Spartans who completed the race and issue numbers to those who became eligible by running their 10th Melbourne Marathon.
The pre-marathon expo was marked by an effort to meet as many Spartans and other runners as possible, and to sell some merchandise. Copies of “The Wall” were popular, as were our Spartan logo mugs. We still have many of the older Spartan singlets available for those who want a training singlet or a memento. See this page for some photos from the expo.
In the News
Pete finished his 37th Melbourne Marathon but outside the cut-off time of 7 hours.
Rory Wilson (S0431) was unfortunately badly injured in a road accident earlier in the year. This article gives details of some fund raising efforts on Rory’s behalf..
2014 AGM Held
The Annual General Meeting was held on the 15th of September at the MCG. There were more than 140 Spartans, family and friends in attendance. Guest speakers Janette Murray-Wakelin and Alan Murray kept everyone enthralled as they described running 366 marathons in 366 days while circling Australia. They are passionate and persuasive advocates of a raw vegan lifestyle.
Images from the night are shown here.
The image shows Alan and Janette with the 10 year Spartans after they had received their singlets.
PDF of 2013 results
As most people now know there was no results book published for the 2013 Melbourne Marathon.
We recently received this email (below) from Mike Peters of ausrunning.net.
Melbourne Marathon 2013 results including marathon, marathon wheelchair, 21km, 10km, and 3km in a PDF document. PDF is searchable and Spartan numbers are appended to names. http://ausrunning.net/misc/melbournemarathon2013.pdf
PDF can be verified with official results: http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/Home/QuickResults?clientId=1&raceId=931&raceName=Melbourne%20Marathon
To the best of my knowledge the 2012 results booklet was the last published for an Australian marathon. Excepting the Melbourne Marathon, the last published booklet was 2010 “Cities” Marathon (Western Sydney).
Recent News
Bruce “Digger” Hargreaves writes of his experiences in the 2014 Comrades ultra marathon. Highly recommended.
John Kaparelis shares his story as a first time pacer.
2013 Melbourne Marathon has been run
All the 10 Legends finished. Ian Campbell, Bryan Flegg, Chas Harcoan, Antony Martin, Dennis Nish, and Richard Tann joined the ranks of Spartans who have completed 35 Melbourne Marathons. Tony Martin is shown below, using his 85 years of life experience to help Meri Moriguchi and and Phenchan Kavanagh across the line.
Spartan times for 2013 have now been entered.
Pictured at right is Ian Gainey who completed his 25th Melbourne, an effort unlikely to be ever equalled.
Spartans often have articles written about them in their local newspapers and Cyndi Nunn has recently featured in the Ballarat Courier. Some editions of the Herald Sun on September 22 carried a story about the Legends. The Age recently published a story featuring Hall of Fame member John Burt in his day job.
Thanks to Jane Sturzaker for Ian Gainey’s photograph and to IMG for the photo of Tony Martin. If anyone has some images they would like to share, please send them to
[email protected].
There are a number of other Spartans who have similar tattoos, including two of the Spartan Legends. It is, however, unlikely that they will become compulsory.
2013 AGM Photos
We have just published photographs from the 2013 AGM.
This was a great evening with many highlights:
– new singlets unveiled;
– presentation of singlets;
– Hall of Fame inductions;
– inspirational talk by guest speaker Tristan Miller;
– large attendance despite inclement weather.
New Shirley Young Story
Written by Kevin Cassidy and published in a recent edition of Ultra magazine, this story describes an aspect of Shirley’s running history that might be unfamiliar to mere marathoners. Ultra magazine is published by The Australian Ultra Runners Association.
Message from our Patron
We have just published a message from Robert de Castella who is our patron and Australia’s most successful marathon runner ever.
“The Wall: The history of the Melbourne Marathon 1978-2012”
This handsome hardback book is now available for purchase. You will be proud to display it on your coffee table and will pick it up to read the report of your fastest marathon, or look again at some of the 500 pictures it contains.
Who better to write this history than Chris Muirden who is a journalist, has been course director and has three Melbourne Marathon times under 2:46? The range of the book is extraordinary. There is a detailed report of the leading runners for each marathon. The administrators who made it possible are given their due respect. There are sections covering celebrities who have run and VFL/AFL footballers who have found it a far more difficult challenge than expected.
Chris made many discoveries while researching and some of the most insightful sections are the interviews with past competitors. These are interspersed as breakouts throughout the book. Seek out the sections on Shirley Young, Kylie Dick, and Russell Foley.
The Spartans are well covered with nine pages. Club formation is described and there are interviews with the Legends and the “Almost Legends”. Not surprisingly, Spartans also feature strongly throughout all pages.
Order direct from Chris via email at [email protected]. It is also available at Dymocks book stores – seen in Camberwell and Bendigo, so probably available everywhere.
Who are the Spartans?
Melbourne Marathon Spartans have all completed at least ten Melbourne Marathons. Anyone who achieves this feat is allocated a number which is to be worn for all subsequent Melbourne Marathons. Spartan singlets are issued when a runner reaches 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 runs. 201 Spartans completed the 2012 marathon, and 35 new Spartans ran their tenth. After the 2012 running there are 1144 men, 78 women and 2 wheelchair Spartans. The 2012 results are here.
Ten runners have completed all 35 runs from 1978 to 2012. These runners are designated Legends. A further 20 have completed at least 30. See the Hall of Fame page for a full list.
The Spartans Club
The Melbourne Marathon Spartans Club is incorporated and complies fully with its statutory requirements. The modest member fees are used to:
- Run the Annual General Meeting. Guest speakers have included Robert de Castella (Club Patron), Steve Moneghetti and Derek Clayton.
- Provide a tent, refreshments, and masseurs at the Marathon venue.
- Printing of Singlets.
- Publish a newsletter.
- Send emails to members on our mailing list when we learn something of interest.
- Maintain a database of all members.
In addition, we meet regularly with IMG to discuss various aspects of the Marathon.
If you aren’t financial for 2024-25, please download the membership renewal form.
Joining the Spartans
If you have already run ten Melbourne Marathons, or plan to run your 10th in 2024:
- Advise us of your marathon times, as accurately as possible. These will be confirmed by the club.
- A good resource to find your times is the “Search for Runners” on AUSRUNNING.
- Also advise us of your contact details and date of birth.
- Pay the annual subscription fee for 2024-25.