Melbourne witnesses spectacular SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon for second consecutive year

Melbourne witnesses spectacular SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon for second consecutive year

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, coinciding with the first anniversary of its operations in Melbourne, successfully concluded the SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon event at the Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival for the second consecutive year. 

The 2018 event set a new record in the 41-year-long festival history with 34,734 participants competing across the five distances - the highest figure yet including a sellout event for the SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon.

Among the 12,000 participants, Australian international representative Brett Robinson (1:04:15) and Commonwealth Games representative Melanie Panayiotou (1:15:17) emerged winners of the male and female categories of the half marathon respectively.

SriLankan Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Vipula Gunatilleka said: “I would like to express my heartiest congratulations to all the winners and participants of the Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival. As we mark the first anniversary of operations to Melbourne this October, it is a pleasure to reinstate our presence through a globally acclaimed athletic event such as the marathon. Our Melbourne services are well-received by customers and have become a commercial success. Drawing inspiration from this, we will continue to explore potential expansion opportunities to cement our presence in the region.”

A large number of spectators were present to support participants as they ran past some of Melbourne’s famous landmarks including Flinders Street Station, Albert Park Lake, St Kilda Beach, the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens before finishing with a lap of the iconic MCG.

The oldest participant at this year’s festival, 90-year-old Antony Martin, was cheered on as he completed the SriLankan Airlines Melbourne Marathon. 

SriLankan Airlines, the title sponsor of the Half Marathon event, celebrating one year of direct daily services between Melbourne and Colombo, will be deploying the state-of-the-art Airbus 330-300 aircraft on its daily services from this month, allowing passengers modern comforts and the latest entertainment and connectivity features amidst the inherent Sri Lankan warmth and hospitality.