The Runaway Noosa Marathon is a destination race in the best sense: a flat, multi-loop road course set against Noosa National Park, the main beach and the Noosa River on the Sunshine Coast. The 2027 edition is on Saturday 22 May, when Queensland's winter is just setting in and the running conditions are about as good as the east coast gets.
There are four distances: the marathon (two loops), the half marathon (one loop), a 10km and a 5km. The loop design runs through Noosa Heads, along Hastings Street and the beachfront and out toward the national park, so there are plenty of spectator points and a livelier feel than the field size suggests. It is part of the Runaway series alongside the Sydney half. The half marathon is the most popular distance and tends to sell out, so enter early if that is your race.
Noosa is the draw as much as the run. The national park, the beach, the river and the restaurants of Hastings Street all sit within a few minutes of each other, which makes this an easy weekend to build a short break around.
Noosa Heads is about 90 minutes north of Brisbane, or 20 minutes from Sunshine Coast Airport. Accommodation is premium and books out for race weekend, so lock it in early and plan to stay the night before rather than driving up on the morning.
