Out of the blue (line): Sydney marathon returns to Olympic roots as major status beckons

The blue line isn’t back - yet - but as it stands on the cusp of becoming a major global event, the Sydney marathon will go back to the future and harness its Olympic origins on Sunday.

A record 25,000 runners will lace up their chunky shoes for the 42.195km race and for the first time in 20 years, the Sydney marathon will start back at North Sydney Oval, where the Sydney 2000 Olympic marathon famously began.

It won’t quite line up with the commemorative blue strip on Miller Street, but the new start is part of a Sydney marathon course that has been re-shaped to follow much of the old Olympic course as part of a final push by organisers to win approval as a World Marathon Major.

The Sydney marathon is entering its final year as a candidate to join the six biggest marathons - New York, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London and Chicago - and providing it meets the assessment criteria again on Sunday, a green light is expected in weeks.

One of the main boxes to tick is a minimum field of 15,000 runners, which was achieved with an Australian record field of 17,000 last year. This year will see a new record of 25,000 runners, which is a giant leap from the once-standard size of 4000-5000 people in the race.

Runners on the Harbour Bridge during the 2023 Sydney Marathon.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Sydney has already ticked plenty of the boxes, too, on categories like government backing, spectator support and natural beauty.

“I am feeling pretty confident [of approval],” race director Wayne Larden said.

“On paper, I believe we are ticking all the boxes so now all we need to do is deliver our plans. Officially we will know 2-3 weeks after the event but at 3pm on Sunday, I will have a pretty good idea.”

If and when Sydney becomes a World Major, the city is set to see an annual influx of avid marathoners from around the globe. The other majors get hundreds of thousands of entry applications each year, and Larden said the race field is likely to grow to 50,000 in coming years.

The marathon course was re-shaped this year to allow for faster times, and along with smoothing out clunky sections around the wharves of Pyrmont and Dawes Point, the course will also stretch out along Anzac Parade out to Kingsford, as it did in 2000, and do just one lap of Centennial Park.

After commencing at Milsons Point since 2005, the start line has been put back at North Sydney Oval to cater for the bigger field.

Starting the Sydney marathon at North Sydney traces further back than 2000; it was the launch spot for city marathons as far back as 1980.

Marathon course guru Dave Cundy, who was commissioned to design the Sydney Olympic marathon course in 1997, said the goal was to showcase the city.

“There was no better way than incorporating a run across Sydney Harbour Bridge so the North Sydney start made sense. One of the challenges was that the boss of the then RTA at first refused to have a full closure of the Bridge,” Cundy told this masthead.

The start of the women’s Olympic marathon in 2000 at North Sydney.Credit: 2000

A total shutdown was eventually approved, for the first time ever, in the Host City test event marathon in April 2000.

In a hilly city, the flatness of the eastern suburbs was utilised for a route that had to end in Homebush and still yield fast times. Cundy then worked his way backwards to measure the course, and used Miller Street to adjust the starting line to the exact distance.

“It’s gone back to the past to launch a new future - it’s quite poetic,” Larden said. “It’s great to recognise that link to our heritage and the Olympics. It is the only remaining legacy event of Sydney 2000.”

Ethiopian runner Gotytom Gebreslase at the Sydney Opera House, ahead of the Sydney MarathonCredit: Dion Georgopoulos

Elite fields of marathoners will line up on Sunday, with three male stars from Ethiopia who’ve run under 2 hours 5 minutes, and 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase - who is also Ethiopian - the favourite in the women’s race. The incredible depth of Ethiopian running is seen in the fact that none made their Olympic team.

“We have many strong women so I was only a reserve for the Olympics,” Gebreslase said.

“My dream is to run at an Olympics so it was not easy. But it has made me more determined. This is my first time in Sydney, so I am hoping for a good run. We will see on Sunday.”

Incredibly, Australian Paralympic champion Madison De Rozario is set to race her second wheelchair marathon in seven days, after collecting silver in the Paralympics in Paris last Sunday.

Though weary and jet-lagged after arriving home on Wednesday, Di Rosario said she loved racing in Australia and wanted to defend her 2023 Sydney title.