Melbourne Marathon
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Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival
The Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival is a two‑day running festival in Melbourne that includes multiple race distances and finishes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on both days. The event program combines full marathon, wheelchair marathon, half marathon and shorter community races.
Distances
- 42.195 km Nike Melbourne Marathon
- 42.195 km Nike Wheelchair Marathon
- 21.1 km Nike Half Marathon
- 10 km SriLankan Airlines 10km
- 5 km Dairy Farmers 5km
- 3 km Chobani 3km
- 1 km Bupa Healthy Cities Mini Marathon
Organisers describe a reimagined set of courses and race-day operations. The Marathon now runs in reverse direction with a reduced elevation gain of up to 20 percent and the removal of the 36 km Birdwood Avenue to Domain Road climb. The course has fewer turns, expanded running lanes using tram and vehicle corridors, and the previous Southbank Boulevard diversion has been removed.
The Half Marathon also runs in reverse direction, with wider running lanes, wave starts to reduce congestion and the ability for half marathon runners to view the Marathon finish before their own race. Shorter race formats have revised, newly measured on-road routes intended to reduce sharp turns and provide wider running corridors.
Event capacity figures cited include a Marathon field of 20,000 and a total weekend field of 66,000 participants, with 16,000 additional participant spots added across the program. The 2025 weekend raised over $2.7 million for charity. Additional event elements include Club 42 limited-access packages, a training hub, runners expo, spectator zones and changes to start line processing and road use. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
