Geelong Half Marathon returns

THE Geelong Half Marathon is returning to the banks of the Barwon River next weekend with a sold-out event.

Hosted by the Geelong Cross Country Club, the April 6 event will include around 850 runners, while an additional 150 will take on the 5km run, a supplementary race.

Geelong Cross Country Club president Kevin McNulty said it is always a good event for the community.

“It’s got a good local atmosphere and we get quite a lot of runners from outside of Geelong coming from regional Victoria and quite a few from Melbourne,” he said.

The half marathon is the club’s main fundraiser, allowing organisers to finance events throughout the year, to the Andrew Love Centre.

“Last year we raised $25,000 for the hospital for various programs.

“The club is quite proud of its involvement in the community and what we’ve been able to put back in.”

Participants will start their run at the Barwon River, making their way from Belmont to Breakwater, up to Fyansford and back to Belmont.

The 5km runners will run the first 2km of the full course and proceed up the river before turning around and running back through the finish line.

Entries to the event sold out in late February, something Mr McNulty said was unusual and normally happens a lot closer to the start of the race.

“There seems to have been quite an upsurge in interest in running, particularly in fun events, that’s a good sign of people getting fit and also participating in good community events,” he said.

“We hope that people enjoy the run and enjoy the atmosphere and find a friendly and welcoming environment and perhaps people will get a PB out of it.”

The Geelong Cross Country Club hosts a calendar of events throughout the year and encourages new members to head along.

For more information, head to gccc.au http://gccc.au