| Rocky River Run | |
|---|---|
| Date | late May / early June |
| Location | Rockhampton |
| Event type | road |
| Distance | Half-marathon |
| Established | 2007 |
| Official site | http://7rockyriverrun.com.au/ |
The Rocky River Run (currently branded as the 7 Rocky River Run for sponsorship reasons) is a half-marathon fun run held in the Australian city of Rockhampton in either late May or early June each year. [1] [2]
The Seven Network is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. Channel Seven head office is based in Sydney.
A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors providing the revenue to cover organisational costs. Fun runs can include novelty categories, such as wearing costumes, and age categories for child, teen, and mature. Fun runs can also be included as a side event to a marathon or other more serious races. Motorcycle, snowmobile, and other motorized vehicle events are also sometimes categorized as "fun runs." One of the biggest annual fun runs in Europe is 'la Cursa El Corte Inglés' in Barcelona with about 55000 participants.
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. The estimated urban population of Rockhampton in June 2015 was 80,665, making it the fourth largest city in the state outside of the cities of South East Queensland. and the twenty-second largest city in Australia.
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The event also incorporates 10-kilometre, 5-kilometre and 2-kilometre events. The courses are centred around Rockhampton's Fitzroy River and all except the 2-kilometre course traverse the heritage-listed Alexandra Bridge and the Fitzroy Bridge. [3]
The Fitzroy River is a river located in Central Queensland, Australia. Its catchment covers an area of 142,665 square kilometres (55,083 sq mi), making it the largest river catchment flowing to the eastern coast of Australia.
Alexandra Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge adjacent to North Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from 1898 to 1899 by George Charles Willcocks. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The Rocky River Run began when the local Rotary Club created the event in 2007 with just 358 entrants competing but has steadily grown in popularity. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are 34,282 member clubs worldwide, and 1.2 million individuals, known as Rotarians, have joined.
Rotary continued to organise the Rocky River Run until it grew so large it became difficult for the community group to organise and were considering cancelling the event in 2016. However, they reached an agreement with local employment agency Capricorn Training Company to take over the organisation of the event. [7] [8] [9]
In 2017, the Seven Network became the official naming rights sponsor. [10]
The event celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. [11]
In recent years, the number of competitors has been fluctuating around 2000 competitors. [12] [13]
The event is held as a way to raise money for charities, namely youth suicide preventative and mental health initiatives such as RUOK? Day. [14] [15]
In 2017, the event raised $15,000 for R U OK? Day initiatives and another $15,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities. [16]
Originally commencing from Victoria Park in Wandal, the Rocky River Run moved to the newly redeveloped Quay Street riverside precinct in the city in 2017. [11] [17] [18]
