Race History
The NSW Road Championships have been contested in various forms for well over a century!
For 2014 after 3 years starting from Kathy Freeman Park and 5 years at Sydney Olypmpic Park Athletics NSW is proud to present the latest evolution of the 10km Champioship event with a stadium finish inside SOPAC. Athletes will run through the classic 'marathon tunnel' entrance and proceed onto the track with the final 350m of all events being on the track in front of a packed grandstand! This is a natural progression for the event which clearly links a road race to the track and field stadium.
During the late 90’s through to 2006 the event was held at Holsworthy Army Base in Southern Sydney. Due to unavailability of the venue at short notice, the event was moved to the Appin Scout Camp. However, due to the less than perfect course, this was viewed only as a stop gap measure.
For the 2008 event, Athletics NSW (ANSW) searched for a course that would suit the needs of ANSW members. The key aspects of the course that ANSW members wanted were;
- A flat and fast course, conducted on a good road surface
- A venue that is central to Sydney
- Adequate amenities.
ANSW's search finished close to home at Sydney Olympic Park. The flat, well sealed roads coupled with the geographical location and location in Sydney's historic Olympic precinct made Sydney Olympic Park the perfect location for the Road Championships.
In 2008 and 2009, the event was conducted in collaboration with the Sydney Striders Road Running Club, one of the biggest running clubs in NSW. It started in P5 car park, and ran past many of the areas landmarks, including ANZ Stadium.
The event began with around 550 finishers in the 10km and since then has grown steadily to be one of the most anticipated events on the ANSW calendar. These athletes were primarily athletes registered or affiliated with ANSW and Sydney Striders.
In 2010, a number of significant changes have been made. Most obviously, the event has been revamped with a new name and start point. With support from Sydney Olympic Park Authority, the event will now start and finish on Olympic Bld, with the Overflow used as the base for athletes and spectators. The Overflow park will allow picturesque surroundings, and will have athletes starting and finishing next to the Olympic Cauldron and the Olympic Stadium.
ANSW has also opened the event up to more than just ANSW or Sydney Striders members, meaning anyone from the running community -whether they be competitive, social or recreational runners, can compete.
Before the inaugural event in 2008, ANSW had a five year plan to make this event into one of the most prominent 10km races on the Athletics Australia calendar, which also included room for growth so athletes of all abilities could strive for that allusive PB.
