The long-time Stromlo Running Festival co-ownership team of Steve Bingley, Rob de Castella and Mellita Bingley might have reached the finish line, but we haven’t seen the last of them. Photo: Stromlo Running Festival.
Registration is now open for the Stromlo Running Festival 2026, and while organisers will stay the course for what has become an iconic fixture in Canberra’s event circuit, there will be more than one first this year.
Participants can expect another cracker of the year, but with new momentum. The headline is that long-term race directors Mellita (Mel) and Steve Bingley have handed the baton to a new wife-and-husband team, which has been charged with taking the beloved event to the next level while maintaining all the magic of its “big grassroots spirit”.
Mel said the newcomers, running event veterans Jack Green and Caitlin Cunningham of Race Hub Australia, were for now keen to immerse themselves in the event and gain a feel for what makes it so special.
“They acknowledge they’re coming on board to a well-established event with a solid reputation,” she said. ”They want to come in, learn and see for themselves what efficiencies or evolutions they might be able to introduce in subsequent years.
“For this year, they’re fully committed to replicating the success of last year, and just value add in terms of infrastructure and organisation.”
Last year — another record year — marked seven years the Bingleys have directed the race, which has gone from strength to strength.
Roughly 3000 participants of all levels of experience, comprising about 50 per cent first-timers to the event, laced up across a diverse set of events, ranging from 2.5 km to a marathon.
Of them, only nine did not complete their event.
“We were pretty proud of that result,” Mel said. “It’s a testament to years of improvement.”
Race Hub Australia, which runs some 20 events with a focus on regional, is expected to bring relationships and a heavy-hitting experience to the table, to grow the event to 5000 participants in the coming years.
Mel said while she and Steve had succession planning in the back of their minds this year, the pair was prepared to stay on board and wait for the “right” successors.
“It has been such a privilege to grow this event; there has been a lot of sweat, equity and sacrifice, and we felt we’d hit that stage of critical mass and capacity,” she said.
“This is also a very special event to the co-founder Rob de Castella, and integral to the Indigenous Marathon Foundation, and from all those perspectives, we started to ask ourselves those crunchy questions. Like, what would it look like to hand over custodianship? It couldn’t be to just any organisation.
“It’s important to us that the heart and soul of Stromlo isn’t lost, and to that end, we see a lot of synergies with Race Hub Australia. It’s community-focused and participant-oriented with the same ‘big grassroots spirit’ as Stromlo. They have a strong and growing footprint in regional places and cities, with well-known events in Goulburn, Albury and Wagga to name just a few. They have a new one at Raging Waters in Penrith, and I think that really speaks to bringing the fun to the event.
“I think our running festival is in the best of hands.”
Early birds can snag discounts before 28 February, with the collectable event T-shirt, included free until 30 June this year, a sunny yellow to mark Stromlo’s 17th anniversary.
“Yellow represents energy, joy and happiness,” Mel said. “Discount and T-shirts aside, there are other benefits to early registration. Aspirationally, it gives you months to set yourself a goal and, with focus and determination, to meet or even exceed that goal.”
While the Bingleys are stepping aside from their organisational role, they have vowed that Stromlo Running Festival participants and volunteers have not seen the last of them.
“We’re staying on board in a support and volunteer capacity,” Mel said.
“I have leaned on our volunteers for years to make this event successful. I look forward to getting into the fray with them, perhaps taking on a role I haven’t been able to do because of my oversight role on the whole operation.
“And who knows, after seven years of refining these circuits, for the first time, I might actually have the chance to run one.”
Visit Stromlo Running Festival to register.
