Personal best for Gold Coast Marathon with record-breaking year

Personal best for Gold Coast Marathon with record-breaking year

The 2018 Gold Coast Marathon was one of the biggest to date, with the event breaking a number of records.

The event, held on the 1st July 2018, generated a personal best of $28.5 million and more than 100,000 visitor nights for the Queensland economy.

More than 27,000 people participated in the event, including more than 6,500 in the sold-out signature marathon event.

The Marathon also recorded its biggest international field of all time, with more than 4,300 runners from 51 countries competing over the weekend in July.

Audience numbers were also up, with more than 60,000 people watching the athletes, including 47,000 visitors to the Gold Coast; an increase of 13 per cent on last year.

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones says the Marathon benefited from the global platform given to the city during the Commonwealth Games.

"This is another great legacy of the Commonwealth Games more than $1.5 billion people around the world tuned into this event and that's been reflected in the strong growth we've seen at this year's Marathon," says Jones.

"The Marathon was the first major sporting event on the Gold Coast after the Games and gave runners the chance to run parts of the Commonwealth Games course. The feedback we've received showed this was added incentive for international athletes"

Events Management Queensland's chairman Kerry Watson also says the Commonwealth Games gave the event a massive boost in popularity and performance.

"The redevelopment of the Broadwater Parklands to create a leading event space has been a boon for the marathon, as has the facilities at the upgraded Gold Coast Aquatic Centre which are utilised by our athletes for race preparation and recovery," says Watson.

"A number of elite athletes have described these facilities as the best they have experienced throughout the world, which is a feather in the cap for the Commonwealth Games."

The 41st Gold Coast Marathon will be held 6-7 July 2019.

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