Nine members of the Sapphire Coast Runners travelled to Queensland last weekend to take part in the Gold Coast Marathon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Glen and Tammy Edmonds, Cath Griffin, Stephanie Auston and James Lukassen all finished the full 42km event.
Meanwhile, Clare Gilbert, Kim Loveday and Jen Ross from Merimbula and Graham Roberts from Bega all competed in the 21km half-marathon event.
A spokeswoman for the Sapphire Coast Runners group said the entrants enjoyed the warmer conditions north of the border.
“It was around 16 in the morning and low 20s for the race,” the spokeswoman said. “It was definitely more pleasant than mornings down here and a few of the runners are staying up there a few extra days to take advantage of the warmth.”
In contrast, some other club members attended running events in Canberra that featured overnight temperatures of minus eight.
The spokeswoman commended all the runners on completing the distance event as most members only take part socially.
“Most of us are just regular people who enjoy the social aspect of the running club and achieving our own goals,” she said.
The run itself is entirely individual, but the spokeswoman said it is made easier with the support of friends or club members to run alongside and cheer each other on.
The group didn’t do any special preparations for the marathon, with most members just regularly contesting parkrun events and two training runs a week in Merimbula.
Auston is one of the club’s most renowned runners as a distance competitor, but it was her debut marathon where she ran the impressive time of two hours and 49 minutes.
She has built a name for herself on country distance events, finishing third in the Behind the Rocks 50-mile trail race in Utah, America, earlier this year.
She completed the 81.77km distance in eight hours and 16 minutes and was her longest race to date.
The spokeswoman said it was a truly remarkable result after backing up from a third-place result in a Six Foot Track Marathon event in the Blue Mountains just two weeks earlier.
The club congratulated the group who took part and said it was great to see the Sapphire Coast Runners represented so strongly.
Officials said the Runners is a small group, but played host to three big annual events – the Merimbula Fun Run, the Bega Fun Run and Run for a Reason.
The Merimbula Fun Run went ahead earlier this year, while the Bega edition is scheduled for October.
Meanwhile, Run for a Reason is a month-long virtual challenge event that helps you set and achieve your running goals while raising funds for a local charity.
If there are any runners or people keen to get into running in the Sapphire Coast region you can get further information on www.sapphirecoastrunners.com.au or the club’s Facebook page.