About

The 44th Dunedin Marathon, organised by Caversham Harrier and Athletic Club in Dunedin, New Zealand was the most recent Dunedin Marathon held on Sunday 15th September 2024 consisting of 6 events:

  • Full marathon run
  • Half marathon run
  • Half marathon walk
  • 10 km run
  • 10 km walk
  • 5 km fun run/walk

Beginnings and transition

The original event in Dunedin, New Zealand consisting of a marathon and half marathon was initiated by the New Zealand Federation of Sports Medicine (Otago Branch) in 1979 lead by James Fraser.

In March 1984 after serving as race director for two years, Mary Jane McKenzie wrote essentially an SOS letter to all the local harrier clubs saying that the Otago Branch of NZ Federation of Sports Medicine had indicated that the event was now established and they “would prefer to transfer their efforts to other areas directly concerned with sports medicine” and “If you wish to retain a marathon event in Dunedin, then the time has come to “come to the party””.

Caversham Harrier and Athletic Club folklore suggests that the idea of taking on the organisation of the marathon came about during a club run. In 1985 the event was organised by the club for the first time and has continued to organise the marathon to the present. Phil Coakes was appointed the role of chairman in 1990 and later became race director. Phil was a great enthusiast having completed the marathon a number of times prior to organising it, peaking with 3rd place in 1983, retained the role of race director to mid way through 2017 when it was handed over to Charlotte Meiklejohn an event organiser. Upon Charlotte’s departure in 2020, the role of race director was handed over to the race chairperson, Maria Sleeman.  In March 2023, Maria passed on the role to Becs Adlam.

The name of the race has changed a number times:

  • Dunedin Round the Harbour Marathon 1979-1982
  • Dunedin Harbour Marathon 1983
  • City of Dunedin Round the Harbour Marathon 1984
  • Speight’s City of Dunedin Marathon 1985-1987
  • Cadbury Moro City of Dunedin Marathon 1988-1996
  • Cadbury Moro Harbour Marathon 1997
  • Moro Marathon 1998-2012
  • Cadbury Dunedin Marathon 2013-2017
  • Dunedin Marathon 2018
  • Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon 2022

Note that in 1980 and 1981 the half marathon was replaced by a “mini marathon”, a 24 km run from the start of the marathon at Otakou to Portsmouth Drive in 1980 and Modern Caravans in South Dunedin in 1981. Since 1982, there has been an official half marathon of 21.1km with changes of start position – Timaru Street in South Dunedin, Forsyth Barr Stadium car park and Logan Park Drive finishing at the same place as the full marathon in Port Chalmers. The specific finish position has also changed a number of times, initially on the street in Port Chalmers, but in most of the last two decades at Watson Park in Port Chalmers.

In 2018, the finish line of all events was moved from Port Chalmers to the city, on the southern touchline in Forsyth Barr Stadium. In the following year the finish straight was moved from the touchline to go through the goal posts in the middle of the pitch.

The Dunedin Marathon had been running annually from 1979 until being forced to cancel because of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021. Fortunes turned in 2022 to enable the committee to successfully run the 42nd Dunedin Marathon. Emerson’s Brewery had become the new named sponsor in 2021.

New courses and finish

  • In 2022 courses were completely overhauled, finishing outside Emerson’s Brewery.
  • The marathon started at the Portobello Recreation Reserve, headed northeast up the peninsula, turning around near Penguin Place and heading back to the city to finish at Emerson’s.
  • All the other courses started inside the Caledonian Ground and finished outside Emerson’s Brewery.

The official recognised events are the marathon and half marathon, however, in order to give more people the opportunity to participate and improve their fitness and to keep up with innovations, over time the Caversham organisers have added further events and technology:

  • The Half Marathon Recreational Walk was added in 1995
  • In 2010 digital transponders were introduced which has more recently enabled live provisional results to be picked up on competitor’s and spectator’s mobile devices during race day.
  • In 2015 the Quarter Marathon Run and Walk events were added.
  • The quarter marathon was replaced by 10 km run and walk events in 2018.
  • In 2022, SportsSplits from Christchurch were hired to provide expert professional timing. Transponders were stuck to the back of the race number/bib rather than strapped to ankles.

The events and numbers of interest in 2024:

  • Marathon (42.2 km) – is and always will be a considerable undertaking that requires an enormous amount of preparation. In 2024, 368 runners (328 in 2023) completed this iconic distance that consisted of 246 males (250 in 2023) and 122 females (78 in 2023) aged between 18 and 74!
  • Half marathon run (21.1 km) – although a considerable distance, the half marathon is surprisingly doable for slightly fitter people who want to take that extra step and is the most popular event. In 2024, 1272 runners completed the 21.1 km (892 in 2023), with many more females (695) (447 in 2023) than males (577) (445 in 2023)) with a spread of finish times from 1hr 12mins to 3hrs 55mins.  Runners aged between 16 and 78.
    The Half Marathon is not recommended for younger runners for reasons that we won’t go into here, but it’s to do with the possible detrimental effects of sustained impact on a developing body.
  • 10 km run is possibly the most popular distance in road racing in the World. It is a useful target for those of you who run a bit who need a bit of a challenge. It’s also a good event for younger runners who are keen on running longer distances. In 2024, 630 completed the 10 km run (412 in 2023) consisting of 392 females (267 in 2023) and 238 males (145 in 2023). Runners aged between 12 and 73.
  • Half marathon recreational walk – in 2024, 151 completed the walk (112 in 2023), including 119 females (91 in 2023) and 32 males (21 in 2023). Walkers aged between 19 and 75.
  • 10 km recreational walk – in 2024, 316 walkers (200 in 2023) including 248 females (167 in 2023) and 68 males (33 in 2023) completed the 10 km walk. Walkers aged between 12 and 82.
  • The 5 km fun run and walk was completed by 472 people (344 in 2023), consisting of 337, 12 years of age or older (267 in 2023) and 135 who were 11 and under (77 in 2023). Pushchairs and wheelchairs were allowed for the second time – the youngest participant was less than a year old.
  • There were also a number of blind low vision walkers and runners with guides organised by Blind Low Vision, some of who also had guide dogs.