"I've never run 21 kilometres in my life - the closest I've come to it is probably 20 kilometres and that was probably 10 kilograms ago," Mr Donato laughed.

Taking place over March 5 and 6, the 2022 Orange Runners Festival nears two-weeks from its launch day, with the local politician juggling work-life balance like most.

"It's going well, although sitting in parliament isn't helping with training and preparation," he said.

The marathon event - broken down into different categories - aims to hit the mark for a broad range of abilities.

"The festival caters from walkers, through to the elite runners over five challenging distances," the event read.

"There is a 2km, 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon [and] each distance includes a range of surfaces to make the race both challenging and memorable for all participants."

Starting and finishing within the Gosling Creek Reserve, Mr Donato has chosen his running fate, preparing for the Athletes Foot Half Marathon on the Sunday - and event numbers should start to outweigh the recent COVID years, comparatively.

"We've got the runners festival, the volcanic challenge coming up in March ... these events are great for the community, so, hopefully we can get a couple of thousand people to attend," he said.

Envisioning his own attendance - and, thanks to a combination of training and a healthier lifestyle - Mr Donato said he managed to get down to under 100 kilograms at one point. Now at the 103kg mark - down from about 116kg around 18 months ago - he said the marathon-prep has been great for him, both physically and mentally.

"It's been good to have that target. There's nothing like having a goal to keep you motivated," Mr Donato said.

"I've enjoyed the challenge and being able to have that level of commitment. I've got a busy job, so, to be able to tune out, relax and zone out - and just worry about the next few kilometres or that next hill to climb - it's been great."

With the aim of a time under two hours and his training pace currently around the two-hours-and-five-minutes mark, Mr Donato says there's still a little bit of work left to do.

"Hopefully on the day there's a bit of competition and that adrenaline will get me over the mark."