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About the Marathon Training Group

The Marathon Training Group is a sub-Group within Sydney Striders. You need to be a financial member of Sydney Striders to be a member of the Marathon Training Group. Any Strider can join - no extra fee.

What is the MTG??, first and foremost it is a group of runners who are aiming to run their first Marathon, it also caters for previously experienced Marathoners who are coming back after a layoff or those members of the club who would like to join a group specifically aimed at running either or both of the Canberra and Sydney Marathons in a time between 4 and 4.5 hours.

What does the Marathon Training Group do?

The Golden Rule - we ALWAYS stick together, nobody gets left to finish a STaR on their own.

We provide weekly mailouts with running related information relevant to the MTG as well as a newsletter with the aim of assisting our members attain their goals. We also have a "blog" website where we track progress during our training, any Strider can have access to add comments to the "blog" just by sending an email to

The web address of the "blog" is http://ssmtg.blogspot.com/

As any runner is aware the training needed to run a Marathon takes time and perseverance, the aim of the MTG is to progressively build the groups weekly running distance from a base of 30km to a maximum of 85km over a period of approximately 30 weeks. Our training program is based around the club's series of weekend STaRs and races and includes these events wherever possible.

It is obvious that not everyone is capable of running a marathon first up, it takes time to build up a running base of around 80 km plus per week. The MTG welcomes runners of all abilities, whose 'ultimate' goal is to run a marathon. The club will provide a comprehensive training program to all members of the MTG, the program will be aimed at those who would like to complete the distance in approximately 4 hours. Faster runners are catered for by the club in the Sunday morning STaR's where you can start with groups whose expected times would be from sub 3 to 4 hours.

What the Group does best is to provide support, whether on a long Sunday run or generally. Support by many members (not just me) can include encouragement, practical help, recognition, company or (if necessary) intimidation.

Group runs

The MTG relies on everybody in the group running the weekly kilometres necessary to meet the program totals, to assist we also have a mid week run on Wednesday evening from Brett Park opposite Drummoyne Pool.

The run departs at 5:45 PM for a variety of distance, during the first 60% of the program we include a mixture of training that will include hill reps, 1 X K reps, some 400 me reps and when possible a combination of all of them. The latter part of the program will revert to a 20 k even paced run to assist the group reach the 60 plus weekly kilometre distances.

On the STaRs (Sunday Training Runs) the MTG run as a separate pace group at either the 7:00 or 6:00 AM start, we welcome all members of the club who may be looking for a slightly slower pace to join us and have, on more that one occasion, led the 6:00 AM group off with the whole STaR following us, albeit not for very long.

As always, the Group will support you, and you will enjoy the run, in addition to this run there is always the Tuesday and Friday night runs in Lane Cove National Park, there will be members of the MTG leaving the weir at the Lady Game Drive end at 5:45 PM on these evenings, it may be best to confirm with Jim Moody via email to see who is going to be there. A quick check of the clubs web page will also give you a complete list of the runs currently available and the people to contact to confirm start times

History of the MTG

The Marathon Training Group was formed by Kevin O'Kane in 1995, to provide support for runners wanting to move up to the marathon, or to run one after a period of inactivity. It was immediately successful, and the first Group operated until the end of 1998. Immediately following the successful completion of the Host City Marathon, Kevin handed over the reigns of the MTG to Michael Bailey. Michael's first goal for the group was the Canberra Marathon in 2001 where 10 new runners all completed their first marathon. Michael retired as the director of the MTG at the Annual General Meeting in 2002. George Herrison took control in 2003 when the club entered 16 first time Marathoners for Canberra. Jim Moody has now taken the reins with the current target being Sydney 2005.

It has become apparent over time that the enjoyment and friendships arising out of our training was, for most, equally significant, or more so, than just attaining a goal. This is not to say that goals have not been achieved. Most of our runners have achieved their goals along the way, and have also come up with new challenges.

To join the MTG all the we ask is that you are a financial member of the club and have the ability to run 10km in 60 minutes or under, the group will give the necessary support and guidance when needed drawn from the vast pool of knowledge of the many experienced marathoners in the club.

Having fun

Once you get to know other runners, the momentum will take you, too. At the beginning of the training program you will look forward to the challenge and your aim may be just to go the distance, when youve completed your first Marathon a whole new world of running and enjoyment will be open to you.

How do I join?

Just contact Striders by e-mail at: