Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres today joined ambassadors Jesinta Campbell and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor to welcome international athletes to Sydney, presenting them with race bibs.

“The Sydney Running Festival is one of Australia’s most prestigious running events, traversing some of Sydney’s most iconic attractions including the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Royal Botanic Gardens,” Mr Ayres said.

“The NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, has supported live-to-air broadcasts of the Festival’s signature race, the Sydney Marathon, in key international markets in Asia which is paying dividends through increased participation.

“I’m delighted to announce record participation from China and Japan in 2015. To-date, we have 167 registrations from China up from 22 last year while Japan is our largest international market with 700 participants.”

Earlier this year the Sydney Marathon was awarded the prestigious top honour of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) – Road Race Gold Label status, which recognises the event as one of the world’s leading marathons.

For details of road closures and special event clearways in place for the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival visit www.livetraffic.com, download a real-time traffic app from the App Store or Google Play, or call 132 701.

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