Runners ready to take on Toowoomba Marathon

After a long hiatus, Toowoomba is set to host a major running event in 2024. Check out the new event to hit the Garden City here.

Toowoomba Road Runners members (from left) Peter Williams, Mark Galley and Jackie Amos are excited for the Toowoomba Marathon. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba runners are set to take to the starting line following the exciting announcement of the 2024 Toowoomba Marathon which is set to take place on May 5.

The marathon is the first major running event to take place in the Garden City in four years and Toowoomba Road Runners president Wendy Dighton is eager to take on the new event.

“It is wonderful, we have waited a long time for this,” she said.

“We had our last major event four years ago, so there has been a hiatus so we can’t believe it and we are all so excited about it.

“The running community in Toowoomba and surrounding areas is really buzzing, it is alive and so there has been a lot of excitement and anticipation.

“People are talking about their training, which event they are going to do, what the course will look like, so it is very exciting for a lot of people.”

The marathon is being managed by Events Management Queensland, who organise the famous Gold Coast Marathon.

Toowoomba Road Runners president Wendy Dighton is excited for the 2024 Toowoomba Marathon. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“Their level of expertise and professionalism is just amazing and also their generous financial backing of event means that a local event can actually happen,” Dighton said.

“They have done of visits to Toowoomba, we have met with them a lot face-to-face and have worked through the course with them and they have really gotten to know Toowoomba well.

“They are already talking about three to five year plans and what it will look like in the future and how it is going to grow.

“We are very lucky that we do have that expertise and that excitement and resources means this will definitely be a long term event.”

Dighton has been involved with the Toowoomba Road Runners for seven years and is eager to bring the traditions which were laid down by the original members of the club to the marathon.

“I am a relative newcomer, there are people who have been involved with the club since the 1980s so it has a very long and proud tradition and the organisers of the event are making sure that a lot of the Toowoomba Road Runners traditions are incorporated into the event,” she said.

Toowoomba Road Runners members (from left) Brett Ebneter, Peter Williams, Christine Galley, Wendy Dighton, Chris Gillett, Laura Pascoe, Jackie Amos, Cathie Murtagh, Stuart Pocknee and Mark Galley are ready for the Toowoomba Marathon. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We have life members who are still with us in the club and they can recall the early days when they ran the same streets, the Queens Park area and all around the beautiful iconic tourist destinations, so we have relived the routes that they have run since the 1980s.

“We really wanted to have a route that showcased the Toowoomba tourist icons so when people come here it is far more than just a weekend.”

The impact of this event is set to explode the Toowoomba running scene with Dighton expecting an influx of runners moving forward.

“It will just continue to grow and grow because the routes have been designed so that people of all abilities can participate,” she said.

“So even beginner novice runners, they can come along and have a great experience.

“This will just make the Toowoomba community grow and a lot of people will get excited and a lot of spectators will see the event so in upcoming years it will be even more of a success.”