The Sydney Running Festival is an annual running and walking event with a range of distances to suit everyone. The distances include a 42km marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km bridge run and 3.5km family fun run. The Running Festival started in 2001 and for the past 10 years, the Rotary Club of Rose Bay has been organising volunteers for the Moore Park area. Like the City2Surf, volunteers receive a donation from the organisers for their Rotary or Rotaract club of $70 per person. It is a great way to raise funds for a club project.
This year’s event was held on Sunday, September 17. The Sydney Marathon Men’s Race was won by Moroccan Othmane El Goumri, who wore a black armband during the race to pay tribute to the 2,800 victims of the earthquake that struck Morocco on September 8. Speaking through an interpreter, the 31-year-old said he had almost not flown to Sydney for the race.
“It did affect him because it is his country and he has loved ones who were affected by the earthquake that just happened in Morocco,” the interpreter said, after translating El Goumri’s answer to a question.
“At some point he didn’t think he would make the trip to Sydney. But in the last minute he decided to come, and throughout the race he was thinking about all the people in Morocco and this victory is for them.”
The Sydney Marathon is becoming one of the major world marathons, on par with the London, Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, and New York marathons.
Photos: Sydney Marathon
