Noosa Shines as Thousands Take to the Streets
Thousands of runners have taken to the streets of Noosa for the ASICS Runaway Noosa Marathon, with the 2026 event the largest in its history.
Runners from across Australia and around the world took on either the marathon, half marathon, 10km or 5km event, with Noosa’s perfect late-autumn weather making for a day to remember on course.
Noosa local Alex Harvey made it back-to-back victories in the men’s marathon, crossing the line in 2:23:32, more than four minutes clear of Jamie Lacey, with Lachlan Kerin third.
“That’s two wins in a row, and I think the year before I won the half, so it’s been a pretty good event for me. Having moved to Noosa maybe four or five years ago I know these streets so well, so to come here, I know the conditions, I kind of know what’s going to happen on the course and today I used that to my advantage,” said Harvey. “I had someone with me for the first lap which was a bit unexpected, but I knew when we went around the corner to start the second lap that he had to stick pretty close because we were coming through the back of the half marathoners and I lost him pretty comfortably in there. I had a pretty even effort for the rest of the race, it was one of those comfortably hard ones, I wouldn’t say it was easy, definitely had those moments with a lot of challenges and I’m still a long way off how fast I want to run.
“The best thing is you get to run a marathon on a beautiful course and then go to the beach, there aren’t many marathons in the world where you can do that,” he said. “Because it’s a four lap course, while that has its challenges you get so much support out on course, if you have any friends or family they see you eight times, there’s never a quiet moment out there, that’s really unique for a marathon.”
The women’s marathon title was taken out by Melbourne’s Sophie Houghton, who broke the tape in 2:55:27, edging out Eleanor Goldrick and Harriet Beavis.
“I really enjoyed it out there today, the vibes were insane and I’m pumped to be running in this location and soak it up and go and celebrate now,” said Houghton. “There were so many spectators, the level of support was great and I actually quite liked the four laps because you’re constantly seeing people, you continually get support which helps when you get towards the end and you can push through and get that last push to the finish line.”
Tim Vincent is normally on the sideline supporting others at Runaway Noosa but a last-minute decision to race certainly paid off, with Vincent winning the men’s half marathon in 1:05:20, over two minutes ahead of former champion Kieren Perkins, with Rhett Baker rounding out the podium positions.
“I’m pretty excited, I’ve been up here before but normally a spectator for this weekend, watching my partner and friends and family run. I’ve just come back from London so I’m pretty soft at the moment, I found it really hot, we had a cross-wind the whole morning, I would have liked to have found it a bit easier than I did so I probably need a bit of sauna work, but saying that the crowd was great, all the runners cheering for each other made for a great morning out there,” said Vincent. “I’ve raced Kieran a lot at these Queensland races and have a lot of respect for him, I made a move at 2km which literally showed that I didn’t want to be mucking around at 18, 19k, so I made it harder for myself but we both had a strong run and I managed to come out on top.”
New Zealand’s Arleah Tippins won the women’s half marathon on her Runaway Noosa debut, finishing in 1:16:04, 90 seconds clear of Lydia O’Donnell, with Siobhan Sefton third.
“I feel pretty good right now but out on the course it was pretty brutal with that wind, I struggled a little bit on the bridge, the wind was coming across so I tried to not look at the pace too much because it was hard to stick at it even with the pace dropping, but it was a beautiful morning and a lot of fun,” said Tippins.
Tippins enjoyed the chance to test herself on the Runaway Noosa course, a change from her training routine at home in New Zealand.
“It’s amazing to be honest, it’s so nice to be running and be somewhere different, I’m used to running the same roads every day, early mornings, it’s nice to be amongst a different crowd,” she said.
Runaway Noosa appeals to runners of all ages and abilities, with the multi-lap course meaning that people are never far away from their supporters, with a large number traveling from outside of the region to take part. One group who headed to the event from across the Tasman included Brodie Kane, who enjoyed the chance to take part with her run club that drew in runners from across New Zealand.
“I’m a little bit cooked but if you don’t feel cooked at the end what was the point of it, we must do hard things on a Saturday morning. There’s 21 of us, a female only run club from New Zealand, we’ve come from across the country and have had a great weekend so far,” said Kane. “Awesome course, good vibes, cracked a PB and I think we’ll go and throw ourselves in the ocean after this and then celebrate.”
For those who want to mix a swim in with their run Swim Noosa takes place tomorrow, Sunday 24 May.
Swim Noosa provides the perfect opportunity to finish off the race weekend with a dip in Laguna Bay off Noosa Main Beach. The event offers four ocean swims, including 500m, 1km, 2km and 3.8km swims, beginning from 7am.
