The Goodlife Rottnest Marathon (42.195km) and accompanying 21.1km, 10km and 5km fun run is organised by the West Australian Marathon Club with the event proceeds being donated to Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The inaugural Rottnest Marathon was run in October 1994. In that year 72 runners completed the marathon with Ray Brown winning the men’s race in a time of 2:35:50 and visiting New Zealand runner Nyla Carroll took the women’s title in 2:52:20 – this remains the course record for women. The current course record for men is 2:29:24, set in 1998 by Todd Ingraham.

The start of the Goodlife Rottnest Marathon is heralded by the wail of bagpipes at 6.40am on the Sunday morning. The bagpipes have become a traditional part of the marathon and can be heard throughout the marathon at Armstrong Hill. It is anticipated that over 200 runners will tackle the four-lap course that starts and finishes adjacent to the Heritage Common and circumnavigates the salt lakes in the centre of the Island via the sealed roads.