2:09 Events

21/10/2025

Our annual Santa Run at Denbies takes place this year on Sunday December 14. It is a two-lap 5K course and while it is very much a 'fun run', it does start with a nasty little hill climb through the vineyard.
As you can see from this enterprising couple, there is a way to take the sting out of that climb. Just remember dogs are very welcome in the grounds of the vineyard, you just can't take them inside the building where we serve the celebratory post-race mulled wine and mince piece.

20/10/2025

Today we hoped to be showing you some medals form this weekend's Sanlam Cape Town Marathon finishers. Sadly none were awarded. The race had to be cancelled due to extreme weather on the Saturday night which destroyed much of the start finish and made the course unsafe to run on.
Instead we are have a couple of great medal shots from this year's TCS Sydney Marathon courtesy of clients who ran the race. This year was Sydney's first year as the seventh Abbott World Marathon Majors. We have just launched our guaranteed entry packages for 2026 which promises to be even bigger than the 2025 edition. We haven't seen the medal for that race yet but the 2025 medal will be a tough act to follow.
If you were wondering about the relevance of that missing piece from the bottom of the medal, it was the outline of the Sydney Opera House, where the race finished.

19/10/2025

At this year's Farnborough Winter Half Marathon we had a number of records. Adam Clarke ran a new course record with his 1:03:46 finish in the men's race while Ellie Monks was equally impressive with her course-record 1:15:56 victory in the women's race. Further back in the field, in fact a long way back, we had a group of soldiers 'running' the race for Combat Stress while carrying over 50kg of mortar equipment. The group finally finished the 13.1 miles in 5:51:16, by some way the slowest finishers we have ever had at the Farnborough Winter Half.
Those sets of fast and slow records demonstrate that the race is genuinely for everyone. Whether you are looking for a PB or running the distance for the first time it's your kind of race.

18/10/2025

Our packages for the 2026 TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS are now available to book. As with all our Abbott World Marathon Majors packages, we have guaranteed entries to the race but they are only available with our hotel package. In this case we have a five-night package at the Grace Hotel, which is perfectly placed in Sydney's Central Business District to access the race Expo, transport to the start and to walk back from the finish. See our website for more details.

In the land down under, there is one marathon that you must attend! The TCS Sydney Marathon, is the newest member of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Club.

17/10/2025

Running a marathon is like tourism for the man - or woman - in a hurry. Most big city races offer you a 26.2 mile whistle stop tour of their biggest attractions. It is amazing how much you can see in three, four, five hours or more of running.
Nothing epitomises that more than the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon. Paris has some of the world's most iconic tourist attractions: the Arc De Triomphe, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower. You will see them all, and more, during the 42.2 kilometres of its annual spring classic, which takes place on April 12 in 2026.
Of course the Paris Marathon has more it than its famous sights. The city's wide, long straight 19th century boulevards could have been purpose built for mass participation running. Paris is a short hop across the Channel by train and if you have missed out on Tokyo, Boston or London it is a spring marathon you can still find an entry for.

16/10/2025

One of the thing you can’t escape about running in Bhutan is the altitude. From the moment you step off the plane in Paro, you’ll feel the effect of moving around at over 2200m. That is about the same height as an altitude training camp in Kenya.
If you had to run the Thunder Dragon Marathon or Half Marathon on the day you arrived it would be a disaster. Fortunately you don’t. The race is the last full day of the trip, Sunday May 24.
At that point you will be probably have done at least two hikes over 3000m and if you are on our 8-night trip, which includes a 4-day hike on the Druk Trail, you will have spent a few days at and above 4000m. It is amazing how quickly the body adapts and how relatively comfortable running at 2000m feels after you have been above 3000m. Of course that doesn’t mean these are easy races. No one runs a PB in Bhutan, but running a marathon or half in the land of the Thunder Dragon is not as daunting as it might seem. Check out www.thunderdragonmarathon.com for more information about the trip.

15/10/2025

We are just back from Chicago and catching our breath before heading off to Cape Town, South Africa for this weekend's Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. It is a pivotal event for the city, the organisers and the wider running community. If all goes to plan, as most expect it will, Cape Town will join the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2026 as the eighth race in the series.
Sydney is one year ahead. It completed qualification in 2024 and had its first successful outing as the 7th 'Major' at the end of August.
The 2026 TCS Sydney Marathon is scheduled to take place on August 30. Our Sydney packages will be available from October 18. Although our entries are guaranteed, they are part of event's International Travel Operator scheme so can only be sold with hotel accommodation and they are more expensive than standard international entries.
If you want to apply for the general entry ballot for the 2026 TCS Sydney Marathon, you are running out of time. The ballot closes at 11.59pm Australian Eastern time on Friday October 17. Here is a link to the ballot

https://raceroster.com/registration/104215/xpzasjy6wvutt7fm/registrant/1

13/10/2025

Here's a little 'Medal Monday' courtesy of our Bank of America Chicago Marathon finishers. It was a courageous day in every sense of the words. Huge congratulations to everyone who completed yesterday's race, particularly thsoe who ran a PB. Here are a few special people from our group.

12/10/2025

It was a glorious day today in Chicago. Perfect conditions for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Times were quick, particularly at the front. While it is hard to argue with a 2:02:36 winning performance, Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo may well be a little disappointed with his final time. He went through half way in 1:00:16 and was flirting with world record pace through 20 miles before fading in the later stages.
Many of the local headlines focused on the USA's Connor Mantz who smashed an American marathon record that had stood for more than 20 years with his 2:04:43 fourth place finish.
In the women's race Ethiopia's Hawi Feysa was well clear of the rest of the field with her 2:14:56 victory.
In the third Abbott World Marathon Major of the autumn season, Chicago is expecting to have over 50,000 finishers in the main field we had a big group among them who are starting to come back t the hotel.