Records broken as hundreds turn out to run Brisbane’s fastest road course at Pallara

Two race records were broken and more than $130,000 raised for charity as hundreds of people converged on Stockland’s Pallara community in Brisbane on Saturday (7 October) to test out Brisbane’s newest and fastest road course.

The inaugural Running CEOs corporate charity running event and Brisbane’s Fast 10k has been labelled an outstanding success by the organisers, Run 2 Give Foundation, with the fundraiser attracting hundreds of spectators and more than 1,100 runners.

Officially opened by to Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, participants included some of Queensland’s fastest elite athletes who completed a 10 kilometre course through the streets of the brand new community.

Matthew Carlsson, 25, took out Brisbane’s Fast 10k, setting a new record for the fastest published IAAF-AIMS certified 10 kilometre fun run time in Brisbane of 30.44 minutes. The previous record was 31.11 minutes.

The winner of the fastest female at the event, 20-year-old Brittany Zendler, also set a new Brisbane record with her race time of 35.57 minutes. The previous fastest published women’s IAAF-AIMS certified 10 kilometre fun run time in Brisbane was 36.08.

Winner of the Top Fundraising Team in the Running CEOs event was MTR Property Group lead by Marilyn Thurtell, with the team raising more than $26,000.

David Laner, Regional Manager at Stockland, said he was delighted with the exceptional response to the Running CEOs event as well as Brisbane’s Fast 10k, which was held at Pallara for the first time.

“It was fantastic to see so many people not only competing in the events but also lining the streets of Pallara to cheer on the runners,” Mr Laner said.

“Money raised from Running CEOs will help support victims of domestic violence and I’d like to thank everyone who turned out on Saturday to support this important cause.”

Proceeds from the inaugural Running CEOs corporate charity running event will go to RizeUp Australia, Women’s Legal Service and Run 2 Give Foundation.

Maria Becis, Director at Run 2 Give Foundation, said the 2018 event was already shaping up to be bigger and better than this year’s.

“We are extremely pleased with the success of this year’s event and would like to thank Stockland for hosting the event as well as helping to raise the profile of the Running CEOs fundraiser,” Mrs Becis said. 

Teams competing in the event included Brisbane City Council, Telstra and Grant Thornton. Team members were trained by some of Australia’s best running and triathlon coaches including one of the nation’s most versatile distance runners of all time Pat Carroll, four-time Olympian Benita Willis, international marathon runner Pat Nispel, international level triathlon coach Al Pitman and running and triathlon coach Mike Lennon.

Pallara is a brand new Stockland community under construction in Brisbane’s south-western growth corridor. Surrounded by lush natural bushland just 19km from Brisbane’s CBD, the community will feature around 720 new dwellings and more than 2,000 residents on completion.

For more information visit the Pallara Sales and Information Centre on the corner of Gooderham Road and Brookbent Road, Pallara, call 1300 619 561.