Marathon running is more than the medal, it's about the sense of community says Canberra runner and coach George Masri.
The Canberra Running Club coach used to do a bit of running when he was at university but stopped due to work and family demands. Almost 20 years ago he got back into it and remembered how much he loved the sport.
"I did a few half marathons and thought I'd look at the challenge of a Canberra marathon being a local marathon and I sort of enjoyed the experience, not only the event but just having to get your body ready for it and then I guess you've done it once and you think, 'okay I'll see if I can better my time'," he said.
"Long story short I ended up running it for 17 years in a row except for the year that was cancelled before of COVID."
Mr Masri's training has been through highs and lows over the years, but always stays committed to getting his body prepared to run the marathon each year.
"I've done it with injury and am now much much slower than I was when I started, but for me I guess it's a local marathon that I support," he said.
"It's a good event that I think at a personal level I look at opportunities to just keep myself relatively fit and something I look forward to achieve and I think it's also just a really positive Canberra community event."
This particular run "will be special" for Mr Masri as his two daughters and two nephews will be coming from Sydney to run in the festival.
Coaching for the Canberra Running Club is another part of Mr Masri's dedication to the sport as he helps people train for distance running.
"We've got a few programs. At the moment we're halfway through a half marathon training program that gets people to a half marathon that the club does in May later on this year. Some of the participants will be running in the festival next week doing 10 kilometre events," he said.
"We do a few of those things on top of having a regular running group that meets three times a week in the morning. We get anywhere between 20 people to 40 or 50 people coming to run in the mornings."
Leading up to the Canberra Times Running Festival, Mr Masri said he is eager to be a part of it after COVID cancelling last year's event.
"I think it's great to showcase Canberra and I know that certainly for the marathon historically, the vast majority of participants have been outside Canberra so it's a good opportunity for people to come and have a weekend in Canberra," he said.
"As I get older, it becomes even more important physically and mentally. I've got a pretty full on job so it's good just to have that mental break and the other thing which I really enjoy is the camaraderie."
