Event: Coffs Harbour Running Festival
Event Information
Summary
The Coffs Harbour Running Festival is a community charity running festival on the NSW Mid North Coast, run by Rotary with 100% of entry fees going to local charities. The 2026 festival runs on Sunday 30 August with a marathon, half marathon, 10 km, 5 km, 3 km and kids’ 1 km. Note: it falls on the same day as the TCS Sydney Marathon — pick your race.
Course & Elevation
The Coffs Harbour Running Festival is a community-run charity event held each winter on the NSW Mid North Coast, organised by Rotary Coffs Harbour with 100% of entry fees going to local charities. The 2026 festival runs on Sunday 30 August, with the marathon as the flagship alongside a half marathon, 10km, 5km, 3km and a kids' 1km — the marathon starts at 6:00am with a minimum age of 18 and, new for 2026, a finisher medal for every runner.
The marathon follows the festival's "bush to beach" character: repeated laps threading the Coffs Creek Walkway, the Botanic Gardens and the Jetty Foreshores on flat paths and boardwalks, with the harbour as the backdrop. Aid is generous for a regional event — water roughly every 2–3km, and full aid stations at the Jetty and Showground stocked with electrolytes, cola, lollies and watermelon, plus a gear-drop table at the Showground. Cut-offs are firm: 2:30 at 17.5km, 4:00 at 32.3km, and 5:30 for the full course.
A flat, multi-lap marathon is its own kind of test: no hills to break up the rhythm means sustained, even pacing and mental focus lap after lap. A structured, event-specific training block builds exactly that — long runs that rehearse steady goal pace, fuelling practice to match the aid stations, and the durability to hold form deep into the final lap when the cut-off clock is running.
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Training Plan Only
- check_circle Personalised weekly training plan
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Guided Coaching
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Premium Coaching
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- check_circle Event pacing plans + race strategy
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