Monash Sport News

Melbourne Marathon – another great Team Monash effort

Over 110 Monash staff, students, alumni, family and friends lined up to take part in the Samsung Melbourne Marathon 2006 challenge on Sunday 8 October. It was a case of dejavu (for those who took part in last year's event) as the cold, wet and windy weather looked to spoil the party. It didn't dampen the spirits of the competitors however.

This was the second year running a dedicated Monash team participated in the annual event with numbers growing by over 20% from last year.

Fifteen Monash team members completed the full 42.2 kilometre marathon. They began by taking a bus from the city, with thousands of others, to the Frankston start line, after which they ran along the Nepean Highway , onto St Kilda Road and finished underneath the Arts Centre spire. Team Monash performed very well finishing second overall in the marathon team category.

Participants also had the option of running the Half Marathon or the 7.5 kilometre Marafun.

About 50 Team Monash members completed the Melbourne Half Marathon - the largest half marathon event in Victoria , with nearly 4000 participants. Mr David Collopy from Monash Sport had a great result - finishing 3rd in his age group for the half marathon.

The other 50 Team Monash members chose the Marafun, which was popular with families, as children under 16 and prams were permitted.

It was also great to see the first Team Monash marathon relay team take part this year. All those involved can now tell their family and friends that they have run in a marathon!

A big thank you must also go out to the 30+ volunteers (predominantly Monash University students) who helped to set up marquees, look after participants bags and provide support along the way. It was another great Team Monash effort by all involved.

The university's participation in the Melbourne Marathon is part of Monash's 2006 Community Fitness Events Program. The next events in the calendar are the Around the Bay in a Day cycling event -- taking place this Sunday 15 October - and the Portsea Swim Classic in January 2007.

Further information is available at the Monash Sport website.

Photos

Photo: Julie Baxter (Marketing and Development Officer, Peninsula campus), Christel Kent (Personal Assistant to Caulfield Campus Manager) and Helen Dunne (Campus Manager, Caulfield)

Photo: Monash participants at the start of the Marafun event (names unknown)