PRESS RELEASE: Run the Tan 2025 – The Ultimate Race with a Purpose
Run the Tan returns this Sunday, 27 April 2025, where Melbourne’s iconic Tan Track comes alive with energy, community spirit, and elite competition at Run the Tan 2025. This flagship event unites Australians across all all ages and abilities to champion mental health awareness and raise vital funds for local charities.
Now a beloved annual tradition, Run the Tan brings together the local community, elite athletes, corporate teams, and charity ambassadors for a day of fun, fitness, and fundraising.
For the past five years, Run the Tan has been a locked-in event on the first Sunday after school holidays in late April—a carefully chosen date designed to align with Australia’s running calendar, held approximately two weeks after Australian Athletics National Championships, and making it the ideal transition to the domestic cross-country season.
Participants will complete the famous 3.827km loop around the Royal Botanic Gardens, raising vital funds and awareness for several mental health charities.
Event Founder Darren Templeton said Run the Tan is more than just a race – it’s a platform for change.
“Our mission is to use the power of sport to inspire change and raise awareness for mental health,” says Darren, “It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come, since its inception we have raised over $200,000 for mental health initiatives and the community we’re building around this cause keeps getting bigger and stronger.”
Highlights of the 2025 event include:
• Elite Showcase Races featuring Australia’s top middle-distance runners, including Lauren Ryan, Linden Hall, Matthew Clarke, Jye Edwards. Para-athletes Michael Roeger, Reece Langdon, and Jaryd Clifford
• Celebrity Challenge with special guests Dave Hughes, Tamsyn Lewis, AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, Campbell Brown, Steven Baker, Ash Gardener, Dayne Beams, Anthony & Susie Koutoufides, Ang Christou, Jackson Warne, Hugh Van Cuylenburg, Jason Warne, Josh Reid Jones, Tahan Lew-Fatt, Maurice Rioli Jnr, Dave Hamd, Matt Agnew and Ash Williams
• Battle of the Schools – over 20 of Melbourne’s top private and public schools and over 420 students going head-to-head to get their name engraved on the perpetual trophy
• Teams Competition and fundraising campaigns
• King and Queen of the Hill – awards for the fastest male and female’s time up the infamous Anderson Street Hill Segment – open to all participants across all events
• Athlete and Charity Village spotlighting the work of partnering organisations
The day will also include a special live performance by Gypsy Lee
Chasing Legends
The Tan Track records are the ultimate benchmark:
• Jessica Hull holds the women’s record (11:31).
• Michael Roeger owns the Para record (11:01).
• Craig Mottram’s legendary men’s record (10:08, 2006) still stands, 19 years on.
A Legacy of Impact
With the support of Liberty as the major naming rights sponsor again in 2025, and key partners New Balance, Up There Athletics, Myriad Kofkin, Kofkin Bond & Co, R3SUP and Bennelong Foundation this year’s event is poised to make an even greater impact.
Join the movement. Run the track. Make a difference.
There’s still time to join the run and make a positive impact – www.runthetan.net
📅 Date: Sunday, 27th April 2025
📍 Location: The Tan Track, Melbourne
🌐 Website: www.runthetan.net
MEDIA CONTACT DETAILS:
Simone Marshall, Director, Two Hands Agency / [email protected] / + 61 403 091 509
Darren Templeton, Founder, Run the Tan / [email protected] / +61 418 373 679
ABOUT RUN THE TAN
The Run the Tan annual showcase event, supporting mental health charities, has become a flagship event and one of the most popular and well well-known running events in Melbourne and Australia. The inaugural event was held in April 2021 between COVID lockdowns.
Run The Tan is a not-for-profit organisation under Run for Mental Health Ltd, advocating for mental health awareness through promoting an active lifestyle. Its annual showcase event brings together athletes, enthusiasts, and mental health charities in a celebration of physical and mental wellbeing.
Founded by Darren Templeton in 2019, the organisation provides a central source of truth and governance process for all official recorded run times around the Tan (including the all-time top 10 and top 100 fastest times for men and women).
Run the Tan runs a free weekly community run club initiative which sees new runners joining regularly. Held at the Tan Track at 8am every Saturday morning, it caters to all fitness levels and abilities, and is open to everyone in the community.
