Queenstown Marathon 2024 (10km)

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Rach Loveday Leave a comment

On December 12, 2019, after completing my Fun Walking Not Running Tour around Australia, and inspired by two old friends who had completed the half-marathon course, I decided that I would complete the 10km course of the Queenstown Marathon.

I registered for the 10km course at the 2020 event, planning for it to be the first stop for my yet-to-be-fully-planned Fun Walking Not Running Around the World Tour. However, due to the border restrictions in place at the time, the organisers gave me the choice of getting a refund on my entry fee or deferring my registration to 2021, I chose the latter.

I had hoped that I would complete the 10km course in 2021, unfortunately, I had to defer my registration again to 2022 for the same reason, specifically after the Delta variant of COVID-19 spread around the world at an alarming rate.

Unfortunately, I ended up cancelling my registration in the end anyway, as I knew I would be unable to complete the course in 2022 due to knee issues. I was also unable to travel to New Zealand due to career instability and subsequent financial issues I was experiencing at the time. I eventually got another job, which I still have now, in 2023, however due to being new at the job and not having trained for it, I didn’t register for the 2023 event.

I was inspired to register for the 2024 event after watching the movie, Brittany Runs a Marathon, a comedy about an overweight woman who sets the goal of losing weight, getting healthier, and training for the New York City Marathon. The movie’s realistic portrayal of starting running as a hobby, setting goals to complete running events, in this case a major one, and the ups-and-downs that come with being a runner, inspired me to register and train for the 2024 event, being held on Saturday, 16 November 2024. I registered on Australia Day weekend (late January) and my training kicked off from there.

I trained for nine months: 271.52km over 79 training sessions (289.14km over 87 training sessions, if I include failed attempts at completing the full training distances I set out for myself, especially towards the end of my training) to be able to walk the 10km distance. I had my doubts over completing the event, due to my need to do split sessions towards the end of my training.

When the big day finally came I was so excited…and very cold, the Queenstown morning was colder than anticipated, although I think I may have seen a weather forecast or have been warned in some way, as I bought a long-sleeved athleisure wear shirt the day before, to wear on the big day. It was roughly three degrees Celsius when I walked over the start line.

I had my planned playlist, the sun rose higher and higher as time passed, and knowing that the 7km mark was where I’d usually run low on energy, I packed and (partially) used a gel that I bought at the Athlete’s Check In and Expo a couple of days earlier.

My goal was to finish in under 2.5 hours and thankfully I did. I finished at 2 hours, 17 minutes and 8 seconds. I was so proud of myself and when I look back on it, I still am. Although I made the decision to go back to doing shorter runs.

The Queenstown Marathon 2024 (10km course) wasn’t just a run for me, it was a win after five years of unexpected adversity that made me question life and my worth as a person.

Similarly to my Fun Walking Not Running Tour around Australia, I planned a holiday around the fun run. On my past trips, I’d complete the run in the middle or towards the end of the trip, with this one, I planned it for the start of the trip. I spent 2.5 weeks in New Zealand, driving and holidaying around the South Island from 13 until 29 November 2024. I started in Queenstown, going on to Te Anau, going on a tour to Milford Sound, then on to Invercargill, Balclutha, Dunedin, Oamaru, Twizel, Ashburton, and then finishing up in Christchurch. I was so proud of myself for going to and driving around the South Island of New Zealand on my own, and I had a ball.

The photos and videos from the Queenstown Marathon (10km course), as well as from my trip as a whole, can be found below.

My videos from my trip can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtCp08cohLHxjUi4mZeLRB1QQtM-O2e6D&si=ZHm_uUXImWohMe-Z