MORE than 800 runners put their feet to the pavement and enjoyed the sunny weather at the Shepparton Running Festival over the weekend, which is a record in attendance numbers for the increasingly popular event that has been running for 23 years.
Participants, who travelled from across the region, from Melbourne and as far a field as the United States of America, were spoiled with choice when it came to categories that were available, which included a 42.2km Shepparton Runners Club marathon, half marathon, 10km run, 5km run and a 2km McDonald’s Shepparton Kids Dash.
Festival marketing and publicity officer, Liz Connick said, “Up to 50 percent of our field had not participated in the festival previously, with. They were new to the event and many made the road trip from Melbourne. In fact, over 25 percent of our audience was from Melbourne and 48 percent from other regional cities and towns across Victoria.
“Some entrants who were injured decided to still come to the event which was amazing.
“Many elements of the event were switched up this year to raise the profile of the event. Most importantly a six month marketing strategy which resulted in our new audience. Bringing people into Shepparton for an event is a great economic booster for our local businesses.”
