Bob Fickel is a well-known runner in Australia. He has run over 300 marathons. He ran his first marathon at Sydney in 1981. In 1998 at the New Balance Canberra Marathon, he ran his 100th marathon. About that time, he felt there was a need for a place where the names of Australian runners who had run 100 official marathons or more should be recorded.
This website and the list runners who have completed over 100 official marathons.
It re-established the original website ‘Australian 100 Marathon Club’ created by Bob Fickel in 1996. Bob’s original website was modest and had a single aim:
It then invited runners to send their list to Bob by email or mail.
The Cub had the following requirements for a marathon to be included in the list and they were and quoted from the original 1996 website):
The marathon must be an offical marathon.
They can be run on the road or off road as long as the marathon distance of 42.195.
The marathon must be run in one stage (continuously).
If you run an ultra marathon you cannot count the marathon distance of it as a marathon.
Ultra marathons will be listed separately to marathons.
Example: Canberra marathon/Ultra marathon 50k.
If you continue past the marathon distance of 42.195 (to run 50k) it therefore becomes an ultra marathon.
Example: the Six foot Track run although advertised as a marathon is in fact an ultra of about 46k
Issues began to arise in early 2010’s with runners running marathons that do not meet the simple three Rules created by Bob. They then wanted them counted in their list of offical marathons they had run. That made it difficult to verify and also they did not comply with the original requirements that were simple and straightforward. That necessitated a Technical Committee of experienced marathon runners to be formed including Bob to clarify what was an offical marathon for the purpose of the Club.
It was determined effective from 1 January 2014 that an offical marathon for the purposes of the Club is one where:
These were considered clarification of the existing requirements or where accepted and the usual way a marathon was conducted.They were not considered new requirements but a clarification.
In early 2019 there were issues starting to arise with the management and the direction of the Club and the website and how it could best serve the runners into the future. Those issues caused a lot of sole searching by a number of the prominent members of the club. Also, the running scene had significantly changed since the Club was originally established by Bob in 1996.
In 2019 Bob made this comment on the Australian 100 Marathon Club Facebook page:
‘ I hate having to make decisions on my own about problems that might occur.’
this related to marathons being recorded that did not meet the requirements for an official marathon.
As a result, in early 2019 the Technical Committee was re-established to assist Bob in the management and running of the club. The re-establishment of the Technical Committee was a direct result of the post from Bob. The Technical Committee reviewed and considered the most recent Rules of the Club that had been in place since 1st January 2014.
At this time the Committee considered other 100 marathon clubs around the world and their requirements to be counted as a marathon in their club.. Some had Rules about what would be accepted and counted as an ‘Official Marathon’ and recorded for a runner.
Some had requirements included in their website others may have had requirements but not noted on their website. What ones did have requirements were considered as well as considering the population of the country compared to Australia.
After that process the Technical Committee decided that an Official Marathon for the purposes of the Club would require 10 starters and 7 finishes and that would replace the 3 finishes requirement that existed. No other existing requirement was altered.
That Rule change was published on the website in late April 2019 to inform members of the change, effective from the 1 May 2019. That change has never been altered but was removed from the website.
It is still the requirement of the Club for a runners marathon to be included in the Club lsit it complied with all of these requirements. According for this Club an Official Marathon to be included in the list in this website must comply with requirements and operates from 1st May 2019.
The Technical Committee still exits, and those active members are of the opinion the requirements to qualify as an official marathon for the purposes of the Australian 100 marathon Club are the requirements that operated from 1st May 2019.
Therefore, any marathon completed after that date must comply with the 1st May 2019 reqiuiremenst to be counted in the list of marathons for the Australian 100 Marathon Club
The aim of this club and website is to return to the position that existed on 1st May 2019 and to adhere to the aim and philosophy of the Club as originally established by Bob Fickel in 1996. Other websites might record marathons using a different criteria.
The spirit of the original club is what this Club is all about.The name of the club as established by Bob is now the The Australian 100 Marathon Club.
CLUB RULES
The Australian 100 Marathon Club has a set of rules which align with other countries across the globe. It takes into account the vastness of our country and the relatively smaller population
Definition of races to count towards Club membership:-
(i) Road Marathon A road marathon must be run on a sealed surface. This means it must be tar, asphalt or concrete i.e. a paved or metalled road, however in accordance with IAAF rules up to 2.6KM of the course may be on other surfaces.
(ii) Trail Marathons an event which is not predominantly run on a sealed surface or which does not hold a certificate of course measurement accuracy. A trail marathon may be measured by a race organiser and must be at least 26 miles/42km.
iii) Track Marathons are classed as Trail Marathons.
(i) It is possible to enter each individual day or stage as a separate independent event.
(ii) That individual day or stage is at least 42.2km in length to count for a marathon.
(iii) Separate results are produced for each individual day or stage.
If these criteria are not met then the event shall be counted as one marathon or ultra for Club purposes.
(iv) Minimum of 7 finishers on each day.
(v) There must be a system in place to count laps. (chip, rubber bands, spotters) If no system exists, it does NOT count.
