The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2022, Canberra's estimated population was 456,692.
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) and up to 3100 miles. World Championships are held by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) for 50 km, 100 km, 24 hours, and ultra trail running. The Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU) holds World Championships for 48 hours and 6 days. World Records are ratified and recognized by World Athletics, the IAU, and by GOMU.
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.
The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, Stawell in the Grampian Mountains district of western Victoria. As of 2016 the carnival encompasses events for both men and women of all ages and abilities, across distances from 70 to 3,200 metres.
Mount Pleasant is a hill with an elevation of 663 metres (2,175 ft) AHD that is located in the north–eastern suburbs of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The hill overlooks the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College at Duntroon. On the top of the hill is a memorial to all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery. The summit can be accessed by car using General Bridges Drive and is open to the public during daylight hours.
Kara Goucher is an American long-distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third the following year at the Boston Marathon.
The Victorian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1957 and is the Victoria state open championship for men. It is run by Golf Victoria and is a Golf Australia national ranking event.
The New South Wales Open is an annual golf tournament held in New South Wales, Australia. The event was founded in 1931 as the New South Wales Close Championship, being restricted to residents of New South Wales, becoming the New South Wales Open Championship in 1958 when it was opened up to players from outside New South Wales. Norman Von Nida won the event six times, while Jim Ferrier and Frank Phillips won it five times with Greg Norman winning it four times.
Lisa Jane Weightman is an Australian long distance runner and four time Olympian who specializes in the marathon event. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she came 26th in the Women's marathon with a time of 2:34.19, 7 minutes behind the eventual winner, Peres Jepchirchir.
Roy Daniell is an Australian runner with a vision impairment, who has won two medals at three Paralympics.
Daniel Böltz is an Australian/Swiss former long-distance runner who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was born in Switzerland, but lived in Australia. In 1988, Böltz won the Twin Cities Marathon in 2:14:10. He raced for Australia in the 1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Michael Roeger is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics athletics in middle distance and marathon running events. He has won one gold and three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. His gold in the Men's T46 marathon at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was held as part of the London Marathon, set a new world record. Roeger competed at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in the marathon.
The Sydney Marathon is a marathon held annually in Sydney, Australia each September. The event was first held on the 30th of April 2000 and called The Host City Marathon as a test event for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and has continued every year since, as a legacy of the 2000 Summer Olympics. The marathon is categorized as a Platinum Label Road Race by World Athletics.
PS Enterprise is an 1878 Australian paddle steamer, currently owned by the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. It is still operational, and one of the oldest working paddle steamers in the world. It is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vehicles.
Tomoki Suzuki is a Japanese wheelchair racer, who won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, came second at the 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023 Tokyo Marathons, and came third at the 2017 Tokyo and 2019 and 2023 London Marathons. Suzuki competed in multiple events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and won a bronze medal in the mixed 4 × 100 metres relay.
Bob Tuohy is a former Australian professional golfer and current tournament director.
Ngaire Drake is a New Zealand former marathon runner, who came second at the 1981 London Marathon, and sixth at the 1985 New York City Marathon. She has also won the Hamilton, Canberra and Sydney Marathons, and the 1984 Avon International Marathon in Paris. She competed in the marathon event at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics.
The 2022 New York City Marathon, the 51st running of that city's premier long-distance race, was held on November 6, 2022. The race followed its traditional route, which passes through all five boroughs of New York City. 47,839 people finished the event. It was the warmest New York City Marathon on record, with peak temperatures of 75 °F (24 °C).
John Andrews 
