This run event review’s a bit of a different one, and not part of my low/no cost races in South Australia, but a true ‘destination marathon’ for people from all over the world. I’ve run it twice now, in 2017 and again this year in 2018, and even though it’s a relatively small field, there are people from all over Australia and the world (Hungary, Estonia, USA, China, Poland, UK, Italy and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Finland, Netherlands at last count) who come to run the Kangaroo Island ‘Run With The Roos’ Marathon. So let me tell you a bit about it. (My review is for the full marathon.)

 

Location

Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island, about 14kms from South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. You can fly into the Kingscote Airport, or drive to Cape Jervis and catch the ferry across (including your car.) The location makes it a bit of an adventure just to get there, and taking your car on the ferry isn’t cheap (about $300 for the 40 minute ferry ride over), but it’s good to have a car once you’re there because for a small island, it takes a bit of getting around. (The start line is about 90 minutes drive from Kingscote Airport and about two hours away from the Penneshaw Ferry Terminal.) Given the effort it takes to get there, if you’re going to make your way over, you should definitely take the time to do some exploring while you’re there as it’s pretty awesome. (You can get some ideas of things to do here.)

 

Race choices

The race has a full 42.2km marathon and 21.1km half marathon and strangely, both are the same price to enter – $139 which makes the marathon pretty good value, but the half a little expensive compared to other races.

 

Elevation

This may be a road marathon, but it’s certainly not flat – far from it. There’s about 600m of rollercoasty ups and downs. Most of it is runnable for a half decent runner, but some of them are definitely pretty shitty and a bit of a grind for us mere mortals and there’s a good chance you’ll end up walking (or crawling) some of them.

 

The surface

It’s almost all bitumen, with two small sections of out and back unsealed road – one at the start and one at about the half way mark on Weirs Cove Track on the drop down past Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse towards Admiral’s Arch. So this is road shoes all the way.

 

Support

I can’t actually recall how many aid stations there were – maybe every 7kms – amd they had water, electrolytes, coke and lollies. There are toilets at Remarkable Rocks and Cape de Couedic Lighthouse.

 

Start/Finish line

Starts (and finishes) at the Flinders Chase Visitor’s Centre just in from the park entrance and there are good public toilets there. Not many, but this event caps at a small field, so you shouldn’t have to line up too long.

Start logistics vary, but in 2018 you couldn’t drive to the start line yourself and instead had to catch their shuttle bus from various points including the park gates a few kilometers away. This is fine when you’re fresh and on your way in, but a bit average when you’re buggered after your run and have to wait for a bus back to your car. There’s a drop bag area and by the time you finish the visitor’s centre will be open and they have a full cafe there so in addition to the finish line snacks, you can get something to eat. The hot chips are pretty good. You can also buy a fridge magnet there.

 

Notes

The weather in September can be a bit of anything and everything, with conditions varying along the course. So be prepared from everything ranging from warm to freezing cold, windy, raining, you name it. In the two times I’ve run it, it’s been all of that during the race. So consider gloves, maybe even a rain jacket… I wear my trusty old ioMerino natural thermals and ran it the first time in a long sleeve, and the second time in a T-shirt and was fine, but it definitely gets windier and chillier as you get closer to the coast.

In 2018 the marathon course was a little short, (almost 2kms!) so don’t be fooled by the quicker than usual times.

 

2018 Bling/Prices/Entrants

42km ($139): 41 finishers

21km ($139): 54 finishers

Nice race bling – although it should be said it doesn’t have the date on there and I got the exact same bling in 2017 and 2018 which is a bit of a bummer. The race bib was OK, but you also get a pretty sexy branded brink bottle. Not a crapiola plastic one, but a ridgy didge metal one. It’s pretty sweet.

 

My verdict

This event has only been going since 2015 so it’s still establishing itself and I can’t help but think it should be way more popular than it is. I guess the cost and logistics of getting there put some people off but it really shouldn’t. Plan a few days, share the ferry cost with a few friends, and have a full adventure over there. Visit Seal Bay, have a proper look at Remarkable Rocks (the marathon goes straight past but you won’t have time to look) and Admiral’s Arch (the marathon goes nearby but you can’t see it from the course), and maybe do a few other things while you’re there… sandboard at Little Sahara, visit the Raptor Domain, or maybe check out the Kelly Hill Caves. Oh, and try the honey icecream at Clifford’s.

It’s not a big field, so you might find yourself running alone out there, but hey, if you want a big crowd, there’s plenty of other races. This one’s about the amazing scenery and the epic location.

NOTE: I am considering planning an all included tour over there in 2019, so if you’re interested in that give me a shout and let’s go!

 

GPS

My Strava GPS data is here.

 

Gallery

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