Marathon Age Category Winners and Records

All up 373 runners broke the magical 3-hr barrier at the 2021 Nike Melbourne Marathon – the most since 1987 and the Deek-inspired marathon boom.

Of those to finish the marathon by 9am, 21 were female, including Bendigo’s Jill Wilkie who smashed Jean Albury’s long-standing 55-59 age record from 1984 with her time of 2hrs 56mins and 8secs. It was an Australian record for her age group.

A few other age records also fell. Adelaide’s Jennifer Robertson broke Tracie Edmondson’s 50-54 age record with her time of 3:00.13. Sydney’s Peter Sanders, who turned 75 recently, smashed the 75-79 age group record with his amazing time of 3:55.31, while Bundoora’s Englishman Damien Bruneau went close to the 45-49 age record with his 2:27.58 run.

Port Adelaide 300-gamer and SEN commentator Kane Cornes broke his record time by an AFL player with his super 2:34.29 run.

And as they do every year, the Spartan Legends took centre stage. Despite having 2020 off, the fab five who have completed every Melbourne race since its inception in 1978 were back and all finished well under the 7hr time limit. Wayne Thompson (3:29.19) and John Dobson (4:13.45) even won their age categories. David Foskey, Bruce Hargreaves and Roger Weinstein kept their streak going via the slow course Brunton Avenue circuit.

Nike Marathon Winners by Age Category

18-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

34-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75+