Press Release - Gold Coast Airport Marathon - 5/9/13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        Women Leading the Race in the Gold Coast Airport Marathon

With nine weeks to go until the 35th annual Gold Coast Airport Marathon the 
event is well on track to become the biggest in its history.

And it's highly likely more women than men will hit the flat Gold Coast 
streets on the 6 and 7 July race weekend.

The program will feature the full 42.195km Gold Coast Airport Marathon, 
ASICS Half Marathon, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Suncorp Bank 5.7km 
Challenge and 4km and 2km Junior Dashes.

Since registrations opened in March, entries have been arriving online at 
the Marathon Gold Coast office in record numbers compared to the 
corresponding periods in 2012.

This week entries across all events are almost 29 per cent up on the same 
time last year, when a record 28,000-plus eventually faced the starter 
across the two days, including a huge 73 per cent from outside the region.

Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Minister 
Jann Stuckey said event organisers couldn't be happier that after 35 years, 
people are embracing the Gold Coast Airport Marathon weekend to the point 
it grows consistently year after year.

"I've been told that steady participation increases across all events could 
result in about 30,000 starters all-up this year, and that the ASICS Half 
Marathon is proving the most popular so far," Minister Stuckey said.

"The half marathon still provides a distance running experience for those 
who want to seriously challenge themselves, but may not want to run a full 
marathon.''

Event General Manager Cameron Hart said the ASICS Half Marathon has been 
particularly fast out of the blocks with 38 per cent more registrations, 
largely thanks to the early enthusiasm of female runners.

"We don't really know why, but almost twice as many women as men have 
entered so far for the ASICS Half," Mr Hart said.

"And females are also on track, literally, to dominate the fields in 
several of our other events if the current trend continues.

Mr Hart said participants also have the opportunity to dedicate their run 
and raise funds for the official charity Cancer Council Queensland or for a 
charity of their choice.

The Gold Coast Airport Marathon is supported by the Queensland Government 
through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of a growing calendar of 
sporting, cultural and regional events.

For more information or to enter www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au.

There is an early bird fee until Wednesday 22 May.
   
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