Griffins” are runners who have completed ten or more Canberra Marathons or 50km events. If you complete 20 events you become a “Burley Griffin” and after 30 events a “Walter Burley Griffin”.
Griffins receive a free singlet and a certificate on completion of their 10th run and also receive discounted entry and personalized bib in future Canberra Marathons.
There is a closed Facebook group for the Griffins. If you would like to be added to the group, please let request to join.
It must have been in January 1994. I was coming back to work after a lunchtime run when I bumped into Dave Cundy, who was at that stage Race Director for the Canberra Marathon. We worked in the same building.
Dave mentioned that he had received a letter from a chap called Kevin Browne, suggesting that the Canberra marathon set up something similar to the Spartans in Melbourne for people who had run the race ten times.
I did a quick calculation and said that it sounded like a good idea as I was aiming to do my 10th Canberra in a few months’ time. Dave, never one to miss an opportunity, said something along the lines of ‘Good. How would you like to look into it and come up with a proposal’.
I had become the first Griffin (although at this stage we didn’t have a name) coordinator.