A RECORD number of participants ran, jogged and walked their way around the Bloomfield hospital campus yesterday to mark the city’s first marathon event.
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Officially, 88 runners took on the inaugural 42.2-kilometre run, with the Blue Mountains-based Brendan Davies crossing the finish line first.
But across the seven events on the card for the 2013 Orange Colour City Running Festival card, more than 1700 people took part in an overwhelming show of support for the event and its organisers.
Ambassador for the 2013 Orange Colour City Running Festival, Olympian Lisa Corrigan, and organiser, Kim Roweth, were both over the moon with the turnout.
“It’s fantastic. It’s a shame about the weather, but you can’t control that I guess,” Miss Corrigan, originally from Canowindra, said.
“It’s growing each year, 1700 entries, that’s ... for a country city, I think it can keep going. Anthony (Danitith) and Kim and the whole crew have done an amazing job.
“I’ve seen a lot of fun runs in my time and this is one of the best.”
Mrs Roweth added: “It’s absolutely amazing.
“We can’t believe the amount of people who’ve come out to support the event. It’s astonishing.”
Miss Corrigan is currently out of the running game with a torn achilles tendon.
Hobbling in a moon boot, she’s been out for eight months and is set to spend another six working on her rehabilitation.
Despite not being able to run, the Beijing Olympian said she felt humbled to be able to give back to the bush.
“I’m from this area, I just wanted to give back to the community,” she said.
“I was here until I was 18, and everyone was really supportive of my running.
“When I was asked, I was always going to do it.”
