Run Casino returns to the Northern Rivers on Sunday 20 September 2026, its 13th year and its first since relocating from Casino's main street and Queen Elizabeth Park onto the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. The event now starts on Dyraaba Street beside the Old Casino Railway Station, heading straight out onto the trail's 13.5km corridor to Bentley, which opened in March 2024. Four distances run through the morning: a new half marathon at 8am (two laps, a five-hour cut-off, just 92m of climbing across the 21.1km), 10km at 8:20, 5km at 9:30 and the 2km at 10:30 — nothing shorter than the half carries a cut-off.
Co-founder Katie Kelly OAM was born in Casino and is a two-time Paralympian and Rio paratriathlon gold medallist; the event she helped start with Achieve Australia and the Sport Access Foundation is built to be genuinely all-abilities — run, walk, roll or stroll rather than race. Casino Lions Club puts up perpetual trophies for the school with the most 2km entrants, two more across the 5km, and one for the fastest teacher over the line, with Casino Little Athletics running a companion schools competition.
Entries start at $17 for the 2km at launch pricing and reach $88 for a half marathon entered on race day. The event isn't certified — Elite Energy's listing covers AusTriathlon sanctioning and insurance, not course measurement.
