Flat Out Beautiful Queenstown Marathon Celebrates 10 Years

This year the Queenstown Marathon will celebrate its 10th year of running, establishing a world-renowned reputation since its inaugural edition in 2014 as one of the most beautiful marathon events in the world.

The 2024 event will welcome more than 12,500 registered runners and walkers to the stunning roads and trails of the Queenstown Lakes District.

More Than a Running Event

Founded just over 10 years ago, the Queenstown Marathon is the creation of Michelle Pepper, the current Managing Director of The IRONMAN Group Oceania, and Dave Beeche, who now leads Queenstown-based tourism company RealNZ.

Their vision was to create a premium running event in New Zealand’s adventure capital, using Queenstown’s stunning trail network, that would attract international visitors while also enabling Kiwis to experience the beauty on their back door. The event would also encourage participants to stay and play in the region, making the Queenstown Marathon as much about the weekend away as the run itself.

“We saw a gap in the market for a more premium running experience. A lot of running events at the time were heavily focused on what happened between the start and finish line. We poured our energy into creating a full weekend experience, and there was no better location to do that than Queenstown. We believed in this amazing destination. It had the scenery and the tourism activities to make it a bucket list event for runners everywhere,” said Pepper.

“At that time, trail running was super niche and super technical, and then there was road running which was quite competitive and results focused. What we saw were these new trails in Queenstown that were a hybrid of off-road but non-technical, smooth, hard pack trails. So, we thought maybe we could grow a new hybrid style of running that appealed to a broader audience.”

The event was pitched to the major stakeholders in the region and excited by the vision, everyone set to work to help build the Queenstown Marathon. Tourism New Zealand was very supportive from the outset as the course would utilise the newly built, Government Funded, New Zealand cycle trail. The location and time of year also had high appeal for international visitation.

“We decided to put the event in shoulder season, pre-Christmas and off the back of winter, at a time when visitation wasn’t massive, so that it would help tourism,” said Pepper. “Once we had the support of the Queenstown Trails Trust, we started designing courses and it all came together quite quickly.”

With the trail network still in development at the time of the event’s inception, the Queenstown Marathon partnered with the Queenstown Trails Trust to provide donations to help develop and maintain the stunning trails. To date, the event has donated more than $330,000 to the Trust.

An Overnight Success

With the event beginning to come together it was time to open registrations – though organisers had no idea just how popular the Queenstown Marathon would be.

The marketing strategy also set the event apart from others at the time. The focus was on creating a destination event and lifestyle brand, which resonated with a broader audience, especially women who had traditionally been under-represented at running events.

The response exceeded all expectations. The brand-new Queenstown Marathon was such a success that organisers decided to close off entries at just under 6,000, four months out from the event date, having originally anticipated and planned for around 1,500 participants. It also attracted a 58% female demographic.

“We opened in December and by the end of January we already had 1,500 entries, and then it just escalated very quickly. We sold out in July, we were a little scared, to be honest,” said Pepper.

“We initially projected that we were going to have 1,500 in year one, and we're going to have 5,000 by year five. After the success of year one we revised the target to 10,000 within five years – and we got that in year three. We could have actually got it in year two, but we knew we needed to just carefully grow because we wanted to preserve the athlete experience.”

With demand piqued, all focus turned to delivering the best possible experience for those taking part in the first ever Queenstown Marathon.

While the weather had other ideas, with torrential rain and strong winds facing runners on race morning, year one of the Queenstown Marathon is one that will live long in the memory of those who took part that day – in fact, two participants loved the event so much that they had the new Queenstown Marathon logo tattooed onto their arm, a testament to the focus on building a lifestyle brand.

“Still to this day my favourite memory of the event is the first year, with the tattoos 100% being the big one. That was just a huge tick for us,” said Pepper. “The weather also makes year one special, recognising that we're in an alpine environment and things can change so quickly. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, and it was quite an adventure that year.”

A Growing Legacy

With the Queenstown Marathon more than doubling in size since 2014, it has become a vital event for the regional economy. With roughly 90% of Queenstown Marathon participants travelling to the event from outside of the region, with around 20% coming from overseas, in recent years the event has helped to inject an annual average of around $20 million into local businesses and operators.

“Exactly what we set out to create is exactly what the event is today and what makes it unique and successful, and why internationals still want to travel, why Kiwis want to travel,” said Pepper. “Year one, the stats were 90% out of region, and that remains true in year 10. We actually had no idea what numbers we would get, even in year one, but we knew it would attract people from afar because we were marketing and creating a destination event.”

While the event brings in thousands of new participants each year, at its core is a group of 44 Founding Runners who have taken part in every edition of the Queenstown Marathon since its inception and are set to line up once again for their 10th year.

Annie Rankin is one of those Founding Runners and a Queenstown local. She took part in the first event in 2014 after being challenged by her gym coach to start running at 56 years old, a challenge which would go on to spark a 10-year obsession with her hometown event.

“We love sharing Queenstown with visitors and when you have running as a shared passion it just elevates the fun. A decade of the race shows the amazing commitment of the organisers, sponsors and the runners who fly in from so far away to run and play in our wee town,” said Rankin.

“One of the things I love most about the event is the excitement at the start in the morning, everyone is exhilarated and bursting to begin the run into Queenstown. Then the town is filled with happy spectators cheering us on and eventually a lot of sore but happy runners all mingling at the finish area and afters in town. I wear my finishers medal all day.”

Fellow Founding Runner and Queenstown local Michelle King agrees, appreciating all that the event has brought her on both a personal and professional level.

“As a Queenstown local and business operator here, I see the Queenstown Marathon as a fantastic event for stimulating vibrancy, enthusiasm and excitement in the community. Numerous businesses enjoy a boost from the influx in people and we get to showcase our amazing trail network and scenery to those visiting the region for this event,” said King.

“The atmosphere on course and around the whole event is pretty special. From the volume of supporters along the course cheering for everyone and anyone, the live music and entertainment to spur competitors on and most importantly, the amazing and tireless efforts of the volunteers, some of whom I know have also been involved in all 10 events. So, if you’ll indulge me, from one appreciative competitor to all the Queenstown Marathon volunteers and supporters over the years, thank you, you’re amazing and you make a difference,” she said.

Another aspect of the Queenstown Marathon’s legacy is the emulation of its highly successful formula in creating the Runaway Marathon Series – events that that encapsulate a weekend away in a stunning destination where natural beauty and world class running roads and trails meets local hospitality, food and wine options, and adventure. To date, the Runaway Marathon Series has been successfully rolled out across four incredible destinations in New Zealand and Australia.

Hawke’s Bay Marathon was the second event to join the series after the Queenstown Marathon, followed by the Runaway Noosa Marathon and Runaway Sydney Half Marathon. All four events are tied together by the Runaway MVP program, which recognises athletes who have taken part in every event – of which there are now over 120 MVPs.

Looking back on 10 years of the Queenstown Marathon, Pepper reflects fondly on what has been created by a collection of dedicated and passionate organisers, stakeholders, volunteers, and participants.

“What makes the Queenstown Marathon so special? It’s all about the amazing backdrop, the incredible trails you're going to run on, and the destination. It’s not just an event, it’s an experience. It’s a weekend away, yes, there is a run, but actually it's about coming to Queenstown with mates, and having a social weekend.”