Wayne Thompson

68 / Seaford

Melbourne Marathons: x42 (Spartan Legend)

MM PB: 2:40.36 – 1982
1978 Time: 3:32:10
2019 Time: 4:06:42

Wayne started running because he was “hopeless at football and cricket”.  He had always loved running as a kid, he “just felt like [he] was floating” and was quite good at it too.

In 1978 when Melbourne announced its inaugural Frankston to Melbourne marathon. He thought “here’s this marathon going to start in Frankston right near where I live.”  He had read about the Boston Marathon, where they ran from way out of town to the city and loved the concept of having a goal to reach.

“It became my absolute passion. I’m just so grateful that they put it on. It’s been my focus. It’s like a party along the road and it’s my way of celebrating life. It’s a very profound experience and it defines my life.’’

In 2000, work commitments stopped Wayne from training, but that didn’t stop him from keeping his streak. He carefully eked out a five-hour plus effort. “I hadn’t done any training so I ran at the back of the field with a gentlemen who looked like Danny De Vito. He was a politics lecturer so we just talked virtually the whole way”.

Wayne participated in the Virtual Melbourne Marathon in 2020 twice. Once on October 4th to commemorate the event’s true date, and a second time in December when the Virtual event was on. He took first place for his age category with a finishing time of 3:20:21, impressive!

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