Entering its 26th year, the festival returns to Shepparton’s Victoria Park Lake this weekend as a pageant of pavement-pounding, energy gel-powered runners race against the clock.
And according to race director Matthew Morris, it’s shaping as the biggest yet.
“We’ve got over 1500 runners registered at the moment and that should top up at just short of 1600 by the time the weekend comes around,” he said.
“That’s three years of record numbers for this event since we took over.”
The Shepparton Running Festival began in 1998 and ran strong until 2019.
COVID brought the event to a grinding halt for three years, but it was eventually brought back to life in 2023 by popular demand.
“We actually get a lot of unsolicited positive feedback which is great,” Morris said.
“People love it; when we brought the event three years ago, we had people coming out of their way to say thanks for bringing this back, we really missed this in the community.”
Since then, it’s been a smash hit - and the boom isn’t just in Shepparton.
Globally, running is enjoying a surge—fuelled by social media, race-day vlogs, and the collective urge to lace up and see what’s possible.
“There’s a massive running boom around the world,” Morris said.
“People just want to get out there and run with their mates, have a good time, and test themselves as well.”
The course, set around the picturesque lake precinct, offers everything from a 2km fun run to the full 42.2km marathon.
Port Melbourne’s Matt Whitaker blitzed the record for the men’s Shepparton Running Festival marathon in last year’s event, finishing with a time of 2:23.28.
But whether you’re chasing a PB, ticking off a bucket-list distance, or just along for the runner’s high, there’s space on the start line.
As Morris pointed out, the festival has built its reputation on more than just split times and medal counts.
“We try to put on a good event that people want to come back to year after year,” Morris said.
“The running is one bit of it, but the whole finish line festival with food trucks, breweries, music and that sort of stuff, it creates the atmosphere as well.”
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