30 August 2026 · Coffs Harbour, NSW · By Annie
What a morning at the Coffs Harbour Running Festival! Sunshine, familiar faces and so many reasons to cheer. I loved running, watching and supporting my coaching clients and friends around our beautiful creek and jetty.
Around 2,900 people took part in our biggest event yet, with over $100,000 raised for charity. Seeing that many people out enjoying running in our hometown was pretty special. A huge shout-out to Keelan for organising it all!
A proud morning as a coach
One of my favourite parts of coaching is seeing the training come together on race day. Sometimes that means a big personal best or an age-group placing. Sometimes it means getting under a goal time, managing a tough patch or lining up for a very first race. There was plenty of all of that to celebrate in Coffs.
Here are a few highlights from the clients and friends I was cheering on.
Marathon — big PBs and goals achieved
Arum Holden — 3:06, 7th male. An enormous 18-minute personal best, down from 3:24 last year! Such a strong step forward and a result worth celebrating.
Emma Power — 3:08, 3rd female and age-category winner. A tough performance, pushing through stomach trouble along the way to finish on the podium. Amazing determination, Emma!
Kate Bevitt — 3:59. Under four hours! Kate achieved the sub-four marathon she was aiming for, and it was so good to see her get that goal.
Half marathon — breakthroughs and strong backing-up runs
Andrew Ferguson — 1:22, a new PB and 3rd in his age category. This was a huge performance just a few weeks after Rumble 100 km. All that aerobic base training and those monster hill workouts paying off!
Kate Marsden — 1:49 and 2nd in her age category. A huge breakthrough and her “race of the decade” — her words! I loved seeing how much this one meant to her.
Janie Mahoney — 2:07 and 2nd in her age category. Another great run while backing up after Rumble 30 km and City to Surf. Janie just keeps showing up!
Michelle Lamb — 2:30. Great running, and already looking ahead to Run Against Violence: 10–15 km a day for 19 days. A very different challenge coming next!
10 km — a little speed returning
I also squeezed in a run of my own, finishing the 10 km in 48 minutes. It was a good, solid training hit-out and lovely to finally feel a bit of speed returning after the 100 miler. Running myself and then cheering everyone else on made for a pretty perfect morning.
5 km — the first of many
Nevada — 30 minutes in her first-ever running race! Congratulations on taking that first step. A first finish deserves just as much celebration, and I can’t wait to see how your running progresses.
More than the finish time
Days like this remind me why I love coaching. Everyone comes to running with different goals, experience and things happening in their lives. Helping people work towards something that matters to them, then being there to cheer them on, is such a rewarding part of what I do.
If you’re working towards your first race, chasing a PB or looking for more structure in your running, I’d love to help you work towards your next goal.
Congratulations to everyone who raced, volunteered or came out to support. Thanks for making it such a brilliant morning for Coffs Harbour — and to my clients and friends, I’m so proud of your efforts!
Annie