MORE than 2,500 runners crossed the finish line at the 2026 Coffs Harbour Running Festival on Sunday, with the event recording another significant year of growth while continuing its focus on giving back to the local community.
The Coffs Harbour Running Festival attracted 2,946 registered participants across its six events, with 2,518 finishers recorded on the day.
That represents a 35 per cent increase in finishers compared with 2025, and an impressive 81.7 per cent increase since 2024.
There were 1,356 female finishers and 1,162 male finishers, reflecting the broad range of participants taking part.
“The festival has grown from 1,386 finishers in 2024, to 1,865 in 2025 and 2,518 in 2026,” Race Director Keelan told News Of The Area.
Aside from this exciting growth, Mr Birch said the most important measure of the event was the community behind it.
“The biggest thing for me is seeing the whole community come together around the event,” Mr Birch said.
“There are runners, volunteers, spectators, sponsors, Rotary members, traffic controllers, course marshals and more than a dozen local community organisations all playing a part.”
The 2026 festival featured six race distances: the HQB Marathon, PSC Insurance Brokers Half Marathon, Baringa Private Hospital 10km, Southern Cross University 5km, Key Community Group 3km and the new Healthy Communities 1km event.
The longer-distance races provided the organisers with the opportunity of planning a marathon and half marathon course, taking runners through some of Coffs Harbour’s most recognisable locations, including the Jetty precinct and coastline, while the shorter events provided opportunities for families, children, first-time runners and walkers to get involved.
“The event also produced some outstanding performances, including Haruki Ogasawara’s 2:52:20 marathon, which set a new overall female course record.
“A number of age category records were also broken across the marathon, half marathon and 5km events,” Mr Birch said.
Running through the festival is a strong community and charitable focus, with entry fees supporting local children’s charities and community organisations through the Rotary Club of Coffs Harbour.
More than 12 local charities and community organisations were involved throughout the event, including helping at water stations, registration, medal distribution and other roles.
The final amount raised for the community will be announced once all event finances have been finalised.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the event growing while maintaining that community purpose,” Mr Birch said.
“We want people to come to Coffs Harbour, have a great experience, enjoy running with their friends and family, and at the same time know that their participation is helping support local organisations.”
The event was made possible by a large team of volunteers and supporters who worked behind the scenes as well as on course.
The date for next year’s event has been set.
Organisers have confirmed the next Coffs Harbour Running Festival will be held on Sunday, 12 September 2027.
“With participation having increased by more than 80 per cent in just two years, we are now looking ahead to the next chapter of what is becoming one of the region’s major community running events.”
By Andrea FERRARI
You can help your local paper.
Make a small once-off, or (if you can) a regular donation.
We are an independent family owned business and our newspapers are free to collect and our news stories are free online.
Help support us into the future.
