The single most misleading thing you can say about running in Australia is "running in Australia". The continent spans from the tropics to the Roaring Forties, its states are mostly larger than European countries, and a plan that works in Hobart will hurt someone in Darwin.
What follows is each state and territory in one paragraph, with a link to the full guide. The conditions figures are eleven years of hourly records at the capital of each; the race and parkrun counts are read from this site's own data.
At a glance
| State or territory | Best months | Hottest 6am | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | April to October | 20.5°C (Jan, Sydney) | Sydney Marathon, City2Surf, the Blue Mountains |
| Victoria | Almost all year | 16.7°C (Jan, Melbourne) | The mildest climate and the deepest calendar |
| Queensland | May to September | 21.6°C (Jan, Brisbane) | The Gold Coast Marathon and the most parkruns |
| Western Australia | May to October | 19.6°C (Feb, Perth) | Dry heat, the Bibbulmun Track, Rottnest |
| South Australia | April to November | 19.3°C (Jan, Adelaide) | The Adelaide Hills and a deep club scene |
| Tasmania | All year at sea level | 14.5°C (Jan, Hobart) | The only state that races in January |
| Australian Capital Territory | March to November | 15.9°C (Jan, Canberra) | Australia's oldest city marathon, and its coldest mornings |
| Northern Territory | May to August only | 27.3°C (Dec, Darwin) | Uluru, the Larapinta Trail, and the Dry |
Choosing by what you want
- A fast time: Queensland in July — the Gold Coast Marathon, where the organiser reports 60% of runners set a personal best.
- A race you will talk about: New South Wales in August — the Sydney Marathon crosses the Harbour Bridge and finishes at the Opera House.
- To train through a whole year without fighting the weather: Victoria.
- Mountains and cold: Tasmania, or the Snowy Mountains on the New South Wales border.
- Trail: New South Wales for the Blue Mountains, Victoria for variety, Western Australia for the Bibbulmun, the Northern Territory for the Larapinta.
- Something genuinely unlike anywhere else: the Australian Outback Marathon at Uluru, in July.
Every state and territory
- Running in New South Wales: Harbour, Escarpment and the Snowy Mountains
- Running in Victoria: The Flattest City and the Best Trail Calendar
- Running in Queensland: Winter Is the Season, and It Is the Best in Australia
- Running in Western Australia: Dry Heat, the Bibbulmun and a Scene of Its Own
- Running in South Australia: Adelaide, the Hills and the Wine Country
- Running in Tasmania: The One State That Races in Summer
- Running in the ACT: Canberra, the Lake and the Coldest Mornings in Australia
- Running in the Northern Territory: The Dry Season Is the Only Season
A note on distance
Australia is bigger than it looks on a map and this changes how a racing year is planned. Sydney to Perth is about four hours in the air — further than London to Moscow. Sydney to Cairns is three. A season that takes in two states involves flights, not drives, and bikes have to be freighted.
What does combine easily is a city and its surroundings: Sydney and the Blue Mountains are two hours apart by train, Brisbane and the Gold Coast form a continuous strip, and Melbourne, Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula are all within ninety minutes.