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History of The Traralgon Marathon

The Traralgon Marathon was conceived as a way of reinforcing the Traralgon Harriers distance running focus. It would give the club recognition amongst the distance running fraternity, as well as providing a focus for its own club members training and racing aspirations. The 30KM King of the Mountain race to Mt Tassie run every September complemented the marathon. They must surely be effective incentives, as few clubs could boast as many sub-3 hour marathoners as Traralgon Harriers.

Geoff Watt again was one of the earliest supporters of the marathon idea. In his view, the formula to success was to look after the runners on the road with well stocked “feeding stations” (drinks, confectionery and medical supplies), and for plenty of soup and sandwiches at the finish, with good hot showers as well.

Watt’s message about good organisation proved its worth. After the first event in 1968, the club was praised for its efforts, but the real test was the following year. In 1969 the event was run in blizzard conditions with visibility at times down to only a few meters. A home movie enthusiast filmed the race but all that he had to show for it was hundreds of feet of grey film with an occasional, unidentifiable figure looming out of the background. Only 20 of the 34 starters finished and for those who did, many were thankful to organisers for changes of clothing, waterproof jackets and warm food along the way. Rain continued so heavily during the day that the last runners waded through floodwaters over the Traralgon Creek bridge in Franklin Street. The winner Ian Wheeler was so exhausted and hypothermic after his run that he was unable to walk for several hours.

In contrast, the third event in 1970 was an organiser’s dream, with near perfect conditions. Derek Clayton, the world record holder for the event, turned up as a fitness test prior to the Commonwealth Games. He told organisers not to expect a fast time as he was recovering from an injury that required surgery. His winning time, 2 hours 13 min, even surprised Clayton, is still the race record and will probably never be beaten. He praised the course and the organisers, saying it was one of the best marathons he had ever run in.

Clayton has not been the only champion to run the Traralgon Marathon. Cliff Young has run here two or three times, as has fellow ultra-distance world record holder, Linda Meadows, and boxer Johnny Famechon.

Over the years there have been some exceptional performances including three time winner Rob Gilfillen, and seven times winner Sandra Timmer-Arends both ranking three times in the top ten of all time. Morgan Tucker with 4 wins in a row and the second fastest of all time, and John MacKenzie with 5 wins

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