Overview The Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival finishes its marathon and half marathon inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the finish it moved to in 2007, and around them it runs a 10km, a 5km, a 3km and a 1km Mini Marathon for children 12 and under. In February 2026 the organizers spread the festival over two days and redesigned the marathon course to run the other way toward Beach Road, cutting the Birdwood Avenue climb at 36km and about a third of the turns. The first Melbourne Marathon ran in 1978, point to point from Frankston up the Nepean Highway to the Town Hall, and IMG took over its ownership and running in 2006. On site The Runners Expo sits on the MCG's external concourse between Gates 2 and 3 from the Wednesday of race week to race day, with the Race Week Office where runners collect race packs, the official merchandise store and sponsor activations. The 2026 two-day format was built so half marathoners could watch the marathon finish inside the MCG before starting their own race, with a tram-free corridor from Anzac Station to Federation Square. The kids' Mini Marathon, added in 2024, ran in Yarra Park beside the stadium. Audience The field comes back. Ten completed Melbourne Marathons earn a place in the Spartans Club, which hands out singlets and permanent race numbers, marks milestones up to the 40th and keeps a tent at the finish. Runners raised more than $2 million for charity in both 2024 and 2025, and in 2025 tens of thousands wore messages of encouragement on their backs. Talent and Influencers Olympians Lisa Weightman (2013), Jess Stenson (2015), Sinead Diver (2018) and Milly Clark (2021) have won the women's marathon, and Diver's 2:25:19 in 2018 set the women's race record; Kenya's Timothy Ronoh set the men's record of 2:09:12 in 2022. Jack Rayner won the men's marathon in 2024 and 2025. Bill Rodgers won in 1982 and Juma Ikangaa in 1983 and 1984. In 2026 Eliud Kipchoge named the festival the third stop of Eliud's Running World, his series of seven marathons on seven continents. Track record Participants across all events: 37,185 (2019), 40,000-plus (2023), 42,000 (2024), 50,000 (2025). In 2024 the festival hit capacity within 48 hours of opening, with more than 46,000 on the waitlist, and in 2025 the marathon and half marathon sold their general allocation within hours. The 2013 race was the largest marathon in Australian history to that point, with 8,066 entries and 6,820 finishers. Brand presence Naming rights passed from Big M, which held them from 1978 to 1985, through Budget, Qantas, Vic Health, the City of Melbourne, Asics, Samsung, St George and Medibank, to Nike in 2021. The shorter races carry their own partners; in 2026 they were the SriLankan Airlines 10km, the Dairy Farmers 5km, the Chobani 3km and the Bupa Healthy Cities Mini Marathon. Partners can hold category rights as an official partner and activate at the expo, where any second brand promoted inside an exhibitor space needs the event's approval.