Read: More Than 30,000 Sign Up as Bridge to Brisbane Returns to Hamilton

The Blue Run 5km will start from Hercules Park on Sunday, 13 September 2026, at 10:00 a.m., sending runners, walkers and wheelers along Kingsford Smith Drive before the course loops through Bowen Hills and finishes at Brisbane Showgrounds. Organisers describe the shorter event as suited to families, walkers and participants wanting to take part in the fun-run atmosphere without tackling the 10km course.

The 2026 event has reached capacity, surpassing the more than 38,000 people who took part last year. Participants in 2025 also raised $1.1 million for hundreds of charities, giving the anniversary edition a community fundraising role alongside its sporting draw.

Hercules Park becomes the 5km launch pad

Hercules Park will serve as the marshalling point for the 5km field, placing Hamilton at the centre of the second major start of race day. Unlike the 10km event, which begins in Murarrie at 6:00 a.m. and immediately sends participants onto the Gateway Bridge, Hamilton’s start comes four hours later and caters to an all-ages field. 

The official event page lists no minimum age for the 5km, while participants are advised to arrive about an hour before their allocated start time.

The course leaves Hamilton along Kingsford Smith Drive before heading towards Bowen Hills, giving one of the city’s major arterial roads a temporary role as a community race route. Brisbane City Council identifies Hercules Park as the 5km starting point and the Showgrounds as the common finish for both distances.

Blue Run puts men’s health on the course

The Hamilton start also carries one of the event’s most visible charity themes this year, with the 5km designated the Blue Run in support of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Foundation.

The foundation is using the event to raise awareness of men’s health and prostate cancer and has encouraged participants to wear blue as part of its campaign. Funds raised by Team RBWH Foundation will support the organisation’s work.

The foundation says close to 29,000 Australian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and is using the 5km event to encourage conversations about early detection, research and men’s health.

Participants can run, jog, walk or wheel the Hamilton course, broadening the event beyond competitive running and giving families and community groups a lower-distance entry point into the anniversary race.

Kingsford Smith Drive faces race-day changes

Hamilton residents and motorists can expect traffic and parking changes as the 5km field moves onto Kingsford Smith Drive and surrounding streets.

Brisbane City Council says temporary road closures, lane closures and parking restrictions will affect Hamilton, Eagle Farm, Albion, Newstead and Bowen Hills, with some measures beginning before race day and continuing into Sunday. Kingsford Smith Drive is among the roads affected along the course. 

Council says changed traffic conditions across the wider race route will apply between 2:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, while some parking restrictions begin from Saturday afternoon. Motorists are being advised to allow additional travel time and use alternative routes where possible.

Public transport brings the field into Hamilton

Public transport will play a significant role in moving thousands of competitors into the Hamilton start area.

Translink says the 5km marshalling area at Hercules Street Park is about a four-minute walk from a temporary shuttle stop on Curtin Avenue West, while Doomben station is about a 10-minute walk away. Shuttle buses to the 5km start are scheduled from several parts of Brisbane from 7:00 a.m.

Free public transport is included for registered participants on race day, according to the event information, helping reduce the need for competitors to drive into an area already facing temporary traffic restrictions.

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Published 9-Sept-2026

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