Great Ocean Road Marathon

I ran the full marathon in 2017. The race is between Lorne and Apollo Bay, the original section of the Great Ocean Road (which now more or less extends from Torquay to the South Australian border). Note that this race is 44Km, though they have a marker and timer at 42.195 for those wanting to know their 'official' time. The race starts in Lorne and ends in Apollo Bay. It's spectacular scenery all the way and because there are only 1500 odd entrants in the full marathon, it's never too squishy at the start, but always enough runners so you never feel isolated. Being held in May in Victoria the weather will never be hot (which is a good thing); this year was absolutely perfect running weather, clear skies, mild weather and no rain. Drink stations are fairly regular, more or less 5Km intervals. Water / sport drink gets handed out individually by the volunteers in paper cups. Usually porta loos at the drink stations too. The scenery is steep cliff on the left, with million dollar view of the ocean and forest on the right. Amazing really. Everyone should run/drive this road at least once. It's a hilly, windy stretch of road, but the hills are actually not too bad; there's only two steep bits, at Mount Defiance and Cape Patton. The trick is to go steady on the uphills and smash the downhill. If you work too hard on the uphill you'll be wrecked at the top and not be able to take advantage of the other side. In any case the last 10Km or so is quite flat. The race finishes in Apollo Bay and you might overtake some of the slow halfers near the end (but we are all in it together!). This was my 8th marathon and I actually thought it was my easiest, depsite the hills I was only 3 minutes off my PB from Tokyo. Pros: - amazing scenery! - great atmosphere in Lorne / Apollo Bay and within the running group. - Small size gives it a friendly feel. - great volunteers, made you feel like an individual. Cons: - Could have had more drink stations towards the end. - Should have a bus service for spectators based in Lorne. - Why not run the event in the opposite direction? It's easier to get home to Melbourne from Lorne than from Apollo Bay. I would love to do this again next year!

I ran this spectacular course and we had perfect conditions, no wind, cool but refreshing, the ocean views were to die for. There were 1200 or so marathoners and the start line was abuzz in Lorne, friendly bunch of runners, I love checking everyone out. I saw two barefoot runners and a few people dressed up, Mario & Luigi, to name a pair of cheeky runners! Cheeky because short shorts!! The first half of the 45km flew by, I was comfortable and realized the hills were hills! Loved looking out to the ocean & focusing on the sounds of the waves - not much spectator along the way because of the road closures but there were surfers & people fishing, and people sprinkled along the way. Heard one very experienced marathoner mention she didn't give the course the respect it deserved as she struggled up one of the many undulations. 39kms in, came into a water stop and refuled and saw my mum, who cheered me along, I knew I was on my home stretch, feeling every step, got clocked at 42.2 and knew I was running a strong race but knew I had 3 more to go, road was flat, the highlight was to come, spectators everywhere, it was like an avenue of spectators for about 300mtrs, it was excellent, saw mum again and my Bestie waiting at the finish, the finish stops bang right infront of the pub, which was where I ended up straight after my recovery wade in the crisp Apollo Bay Beach - which I'd been planning since we'd left 4.20 hours before hand - will be back!

If you want a course with great views this is a good choice. It is also a very hilly course along great costline. It is also a little longer than a marathon (45K rather than 42.2K). They did give you a marathon distance time though if you finish the race. The runners seemed more fit in general than in the US. The bad thing about the course is it does not go along the best parts of the Great Ocean road so you will want to view those before hand (12 Apostiles). It is really a nice run though. I think they did not provide sports drink until a while into the run also but there was water.