Runners and walkers will be given the unique opportunity to use the brand new Majura Parkway before it opens to traffic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Lifeline Canberra has been given the rights to hold the inaugural running event but also plans to make it an annual item on the ACT calendar.
CEO Carrie Leeson will join Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury and Lifeline Canberra patron Brendan Nelson on Friday for the formal announcement.
The event on Sunday, November 23 will feature a half marathon and five and 10km courses for runners and walkers.
Mr Rattenbury, who has just returned from an ultramarathon in South Africa, is intending to compete in the half marathon.
Ms Leeson said Mr Rattenbury had been a strong advocate for the event which is planned as a family day in the Majura Valley.
"One of my first meetings as the new CEO was with Shane Rattenbury, just a meet and greet to introduce myself, and one of the first things he said to me was, tell me about the fun run, when it is taking place, I want to see it happen and I'll be there," she said.
"Shane Rattenbury has assured us he will be front and centre for the half marathon on the day.
"It was Shane's recommendation that that we include a five and 10 km … he said you'll get mass participation and that is what we're after.
"We'd love to see prams, we'd love to see people with their children on the walk.
"We want to give Lifeline Canberra a face in the community, a day of engagement linking up physical health and mental health, getting people out in the sun and being active and the best place to do it is on a long flat road.
"This will be the first time anyone gets to use the road."
Ms Leeson said the events would take place early in the morning just in case the day was hot.
"The running will be over by about nine 9 o'clock in the morning and then we are hoping to wrap up the last of the events and activities like face painting and the sausage sizzle by around lunchtime," she said.
Ms Leeson said Roads ACT had agreed to close part of Majura Parkway, possibly the southbound lanes, in future years for the event, which will start and finish at the Mount Majura Vineyard.
"We're trying to support local businesses especially since the Mount Majura Vineyard has not been without challenges, with the construction underway in the last 18 months," she said.
"Roads ACT are thrilled with the concept and very supportive of it because a lot of events take place around the lake or around the city, this is the first one out in the Majura Valley area," she said.
"With some of the triathlons and events that take place around Canberra and around the lake, and having to close [streets], it can become quite difficult."
Frank van de Loo, winemaker at the Mount Majura Vineyard, said the parkway construction had reduced patronage at the cellar door.
"We've worked hard to create more events and give people more reasons to come in during that time," he said.
"We are certainly over the worst of it, we are now back to a bitumen access road and we've seen numbers pick up quite well in the last couple of months."
He said he was thrilled to be invited by Lifeline Canberra to use the winery as the anchor location for the running event.
"It's great for us to be involved and get a little bit of publicity and an opportunity for us to remind people that we are here," he said.
"November is a beautiful time of year and this is very close to town, all the things that make it a good place to come out and visit, you're in the countryside just a few minutes away from Canberra.
The $288 million Majura Parkway, Canberra's biggest construction project, will link the Monaro Highway to the Federal Highway and is designed as a long term solution for north-south through traffic and a bypass of Canberra.
Despite problems with contractors this year, the new road is still scheduled to open to traffic in mid-2016.
Last weekend's Lifeline Canberra bookfair raised around $486,00, the best result for a Spring bookfair.