Griffith University students got a valuable industry insight into the logistics behind
planning the largest event to be staged in Australia this decade, just six days out from the
Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).
GC2018 Athletics Road Events Manager Ryan McDonald gave Organising and Staging
Major Events students the inside scoop into the planning processes behind staging the
Marathon, which is being held on Sunday April 15th.
Mr McDonald, a Griffith graduate with a double degree in Exercise Science and Sport
Management, has worked on the planning of the Marathon for two years and told
students the event and course planning involved many factors and input from a wide
variety of event delivery partners and stakeholders.
“With four GC2018 marathon medal races all held on the same day, factors include
incorporating the broadcasting element into the race schedule so that competitor start
times are staggered for the best TV coverage; factoring in the lead-in times for athlete
introductions; modelling the predicted athlete flows around the course for course
operations and developing contingency plans” he said.
“There’s been a lot of work done in the background by the Athletics Road Events team,
each of the various functional areas at GOLDOC as well as all the partners and
stakeholders and building these relationships been one of the most rewarding parts of the
process.
“The course is also designed with the aim to showcase the best of the Gold Coast
coastline and Broadwater.”
The Marathon will see competitors including Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games gold
medallist and Griffith Alumni Michael Shelley and Australian Paralympic champion Kurt
Fearnley OAM line up to take on the 42.195km course.
The 5km Gold Run 2018 will also take place during the Marathon, where 6,600
community fun run competitors will take their mark to be part of the action.
The set up of the marathon course, which starts at Southport Broadwater Parklands,
heads north to Runaway Bay, south to Burleigh Heads, then north again to the finish line
at the Southport Broadwater Parklands, has meant working closing with the City of Gold
Coast, Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Police Service, Queensland Ambulance
Service and the Queensland Fire & Emergency Service.
As the Presenting Partner of the Marathon at GC2018, Griffith University will have a
strong contingent of the Team Griffith workforce and student ambassadors on hand to
give away 10,000 clappers at sites along the Marathon route.