High participation numbers anticipated for 2021 Gold Coast Marathon

The Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon, organised by Events Management Queensland, is set to return in 2021 and is expecting to see a high number of entries when registration opens at 9:00am Monday 15th February.

City of Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate welcomed the news for the Gold Coast and Queensland after the event was forced to turn virtual in 2020 in response to COVID-19.

Events Management Queensland Chief Executive, Cameron Hart acknowledged the challenges of planning events under COVIDSafe health regulations.

“We have seen other smaller events adapting to the ‘new normal’ of event delivery with tight health regulations, social distancing and other responsible management measures.

“Subsequently we have developed extensive plans to balance all the health regulations while providing a world class running experience on course.”

Hart highlighted that several crowd management initiatives will be implemented this year noting “this year we have moved the ASICS Half Marathon from the Sunday to the Saturday to spread our crowd more evenly and we’ve cancelled the usual pre-race check-in centre and expo in favour of mailing out race kits.

“We have also implemented wave race starts, and we’ll be providing personal protection equipment to the runners.

“Our priority this year is to deliver a positive running experience for our recreational and elite runners upon which we will rebuild a solid foundation to grow the event beyond pre-COVID levels in the future.”

Mayor Tate enthused “I’m thrilled to see the event back after the Coronavirus-driven loss of the 2020 edition of the IAAF Gold Label marathon saw the Gold Coast miss out on many millions of dollars in economic impact.

“The value of this event to the Gold Coast cannot be underestimated.

“Every winter for over 40 years, the marathon and associated events have enticed thousands upon thousands of interstate and overseas visitors to escape to the Gold Coast from their colder home climates for an unmatched sports holiday experience.

“While we will miss our international runners this year, by staging a successful event in July the Gold Coast will showcase to the world we are again open for major events business.”

Village Roadshow Theme Parks General Manager of Marketing Renee Souter backed today’s announcement adding “Village Roadshow Theme Parks is proud to support this iconic event as naming rights sponsor.

“The event showcases the Gold Coast like no other and with the numbers of visitors this event attracts each year, I know just how important the marathon and other major events are to the Gold Coast’s tourism economy.

“When the runners and their families come to the Gold Coast they stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in our shopping centres, and of course visit our theme parks.

“The team at Village Roadshow Theme Parks are right behind the marathon weekend and I call on other Gold Coast businesses and our community to get behind this time-honoured and iconic event.”

The 2021 Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon will be run on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July.

The event, with revised race day schedules and modified courses, will start and finish at the spectacular Southport Broadwater Parklands.

Entries open 09:00am (Qld time) on Monday 15th February via www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au

The Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon is organised by Events Management Queensland – a major event management company wholly owned by the Queensland Government as part of Tourism and Events Queensland.

Image: Left to right - City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate; Renee Souter - General Manager of Marketing, Village Roadshow Theme Parks; Paul Donovan - Chairman, Events Management Queensland; Benita Willis - Director, Events Management Queensland; Cameron Hart – Chief Executive, Events Management Queensland