Surf Coast Century Breaks New Ground

The Surf Coast Century and round four of the Trail Running Series was staged over the weekend of 9-10 September, with Anglesea welcoming over 2,200 runners from around Australia and overseas.

The event, which Council provided $7,000 in sponsorship under the Surf Coast Event Grants Program, has grown to become one of the largest 100km ultra marathons in Australia.

To leverage marketing opportunities, Surf Coast Shire event staff created a series of online adverts to promote tourism products and attributes, inform participants of the unique environmental settings, promote trader group offerings and promote the Visitor Centres.

New banners and flags were also developed in line with the new brand created for Anglesea by Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism. Examples of marketing activities can be viewed below.

Participant numbers (approximate) for each event were as follows:

• Surf Coast Century:

• 1,100+ competitors

• 4,000 spectators

• Trail Running Series:

• 1,050 adult competitors

• 180 kids in the kids’ run

• 1,400 spectators

The growing popularity of the event (which provides a $3million plus economic injection to the surf coast) is evidenced by a 25% growth in numbers in 2017.