Brisbane Airport is a major international gateway to Australia from Asia, Europe and the USA, but not all international carriers service Brisbane.

Domestically, Brisbane is serviced by the three(3) major domestic carriers, and regional airlines from within Queensland and and Northern New South Wales.

The webpages for the domestic carriers can be found at:

QANTAS

Virgin Blue

Jetstar

The Brisbane Airport about 16km(10Miles) from the CBD, and is serviced by an Air Train, Hotel Buses and Taxi’s.

The Approximate 2009 fares between the Airport and CBD are:

Taxi	Shuttle Bus	Air Train
$AUD22-00	$AUD9-00	$AUD12-00

When choosing a place to stay please remember that the race starts at 6AM, and there will not be any Public Transport to get you to the start on time, so choose you accommodation wisely.

The suburbs Southbank, West End and the CBD are probably the only suburbs with in walking distance of the start. Some area’s of Fortitude Valley(The Valley), Kangaroo Point, Wollongabba(The Gabba) and Milton are within walking distance as well, but some of the accommodation in these suburbs is a little bit far away to walk(so please find out where your accommodation is before booking.)

The following webpage covers a wide range of accommodation:

Click here for 'Brisbane accommodation'.

Note: Don’t be tempted to stay on the Gold Coast the night before, because its between 1hour and 1hr 15mins drive along a motorway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Brisbane also has an integrated Public Transport system combining Trains, Buses, Ferry's and River Cats on one ticket.

You can plan your trip by using the Journey Planner in the top right hand corner of this webpage.

This is my “Home Town Marathon”, but no, I haven’t run them all. I ran the 1st Brisbane Marathon in 1992, then I spent the next 12 years on the race committee making sure that the race actually happened.(Along with a lot of other dedicated people.) Lately, depending on my team mates, I either run the Half Marathon or the Full Marathon helping them achieve their goals.(There is also a 5km(3mile) and 10km(6.1mile) run associated with the Brisbane Marathon.

The start finish location has changed over the years, and currently is with in the Southbank complex, where on the day before is number pick-up at the race expo.

The course itself changes little, with most of it being with in 20 metres of the Brisbane river, and always passing through the Botanical Gardens. In recent years over 70% of the 2 lap course has been on ‘Cycle Paths(Concrete-aagh), but in 2009, with new sponsorship from the Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government, there maybe more ‘road options’ on the course.(The course for 2009 had not been finalised at the time of writing).

Unfortunately, in Australia, it is a ‘user pay system’, and all races must pay the relevant government departments for road closures, police etc, so races across Australia with relatively small budgets(such as the Brisbane Marathon), in recent years have been forced off the roads and onto the cycle ways to control costs and survive.

The Brisbane weather details can be found by clicking here

Brisbane has been my home town for over 25 years, and there is a lot to do.

If you are in the CBD with-out a car, then there are the ‘normal big city things’, like Art Gallery’s, Museums, Casino and Botanical Gardens, as well as the Southbank Precinct and the Roma St Parklands.

A day trip up the river to the “Lone Pine Sanctuary" is also worthwhile(It is a ‘Koala Sanctuary’)

If you have more time, then organise yourself for either a One Day Tour (or just hire a car and go by yourself) to one of the many nearby area’s, including:

The Gold Coast Beaches(1 Hour Drive)

The Sunshine Coast Beaches(1hr 15min Drive)

The Gold Coast Hinterland. This includes the World Heritage listed Lamington National Park, which has two major resort complexes with accommodation.(Binna Burra Lodge and O'Reilly's Green Mountain Resort-Both of these are among my favourite places)

The Sunshine Coast Hinterland. This includes the Steve Erwin Complex, and the towns of Montville and Maleny..

The following video gives some insight to what you can see:

Cool Running Australia is an internet based running group. Members of "Cool Running Australia", turn up at most runs around Australia with both competitors and a "Cheer Squad"(They are the noisy/enthusiastic mob in blue and yellow coloured gear).

When a race in Australia doesn't have a pre-race dinner or a post race get together, the Cool Runners generally organise an 'Un-official one'.

The "Cool Runners" can be found by clicking here.