Marathon

Event Information

In-person registrations will be available at the Race Village on Saturday 31 May.  Registrations will NOT be available on race morning.

Entry Fees & Inclusions

Entry fees include GST and all administration & credit card fees – what you see is what you pay!

Inclusions:

• Race Entry
• Post-Race Massage
• Free Race Day Phototography
• Aid Stations
• Race Day Medical Support
• Electronic Timing

Refunds and credits can be processed up to 4 weeks before race day (or up to 1 week before if you have taken out additional Diamond Cover).  Please refer to our Refund Policy page for full details.

Course Description

The 2025 McLaren Vale Marathon course is provisional, pending approval from local authorities.  Once approved, the marathon course will be measuresd and certified to AIMS / World Athletics standards.

The McLaren Vale Marathon is a beautiful two lap course from the heart of town passing through the region’s vineyards under the backdrop of the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges with approximately 260m of elevation change over 42.195 km.  The course is run wholly on sealed roads with minimal twists and turns, giving you every opportunity to run a great time!

Starting in the centre of town, the marathon runs south along Main Road for 4 km before turning right into Malpas Road.  Marathoners will run almost 5 km out and 5 km back, passing runners heading in the opposite direction along the length of Malpas Road.  At the junction with Main Road, runners head straight across into Binney Road and on for 2km to the high point of the course.  Here, the course turns left into Strout Road for just more than 2 km of gentle decline with beautiful vineyards on either side.  At the end of Strout Road, the course turns left and over a couple of small rollers along McMurtrie Road before rejoining Main Road for 2 km back up to the halfway turnaround point.

Lap 2 is a repeat of lap 1, bringing you back to glory at the finish line in the heart of McLaren Vale.

Course Map

Drink Stations

DETAILS COMING SOON

Personal Drinks

Marathon runners who wish to have their own refreshments available to collect from designated drink stations (see table above) must drop these off at the Race Village by 4:00 pm on Saturday 31 May or at The Running Company (Unley Road, Hyde Park or Beach Road, Christies Beach) by 5:00 pm on Friday 30 May.

• Drink containers are not to be any taller than 21cm in total including all attachments
• No balloons or sticks are to be attached
• Your race number must be clearly shown on the bottle/container along with the DISTANCE of the drinks station
• It is your responsibility to find your own bottle at the designated drinks station
• Rubbish must be deposited in the bins provided.  Littering on course will result in disqualification.
• The personal drinks service is available to competitors in the full marathon only

Course Cut-Off

The McLaren Vale Marathon course will be progressively closed at a pace of 7:50 per kilometre (equivalent to a finish time of 5.5 hours).

A tail runner will follow the last runner around the course for safety reasons and to relieve marshals from their positions. If you fail to maintain the minimum pace you will be asked to stop and return directly to the finish area. This is the last thing we want to do on race day so if you are not confident that you can complete the marathon in under 5.5 hours please enter an alternative distance.

Marshals

Please be courteous to our course marshals and other event team members. Remember that they are giving up their time to make sure that you can enjoy your run.

ALWAYS FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY COURSE MARSHALS.

All Traffic Guidance Schemes have full approval from the necessary authorities and roads are managed by accredited traffic controllers from Workzone Traffic Control Pty Ltd for the duration of the event.

Presentations

Presentations for the first 3 male and first 3 female place-getters will take place at McLaren Vale Piazza on Sunday morning (time TBC).  Award winners must be in attendance to receive prizes.