More than 60,000 people finished the New York Marathon in 2025. Picture: Getty Images
A veteran Geelong real estate agent always goes to great lengths for a good cause, but he’s pushing his personal pain barrier to new limits with his latest endeavour.
Harcourts North Geelong director Joe Grgic has scored a spot on the starting line for this year’s New York Marathon.
Grgic admits he’s a novice at the marathon, having never attempted the 42km feat.
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But he’s been pounding the pavement to push his range, and endurance to attempt the world’s biggest marathon.
Barwon Health Foundation secured Grgic’s spot at the start line, where he’s set a target to raise $10,000 for Geelong’s main public health service.
“They got my ticket (to the event), so I’ve secured my spot. I’m just doing the training now,” Grgic says.
Getting a spot in the marathon isn’t easy. Nearly 60,000 people finished the race in 2025.
“You can get in by qualification, which I can’t do,” Grgic says. “You can get in via a ballot, but almost 300,000 people apply and less than I think 3 per cent actually get in.
“And they allow people by charity work and that’s how I fit in.”
Harcourts, North Geelong director Joe Grgic is attempting the New York Marathon to support Barwon Health Foundation.
Grgic says it’s a worthy cause.
“Every cent that’s donated goes directly to Barwon Health. And we all know someone who’s maybe used the Andrew Love Cancer Center, or there’s so many different departments there They’re building a Women’s and Children’s Hospital,” he says.
Grgic says he’s building on his regular fitness regimen.
“It’s not 42km, I can tell you that. Before I did a hammy, I used to play basketball two years ago.
“I’ve got those ‘old man’ injuries,” he jokes, “but I usually run five to six kilometres three times a week.
“So I’m now out to 16 and a half kilometres yesterday, which was good.
“That’s usually it for me, around that sort of distance, and I’m just growing on that and doing a lot more training now.”
He’s regularly running along the Barwon River.
University Hospital Geelong redevelopment pictures featuring the new Barwon Women’s and Children’s Hospital project. Picture: Alan Barber
“There’s a great loop there and I’ve also done some running at the You Yangs and down along the Bellarine.”
Grgic says he’s entered the half marathon in the inaugural Geelong Marathon this September, which is being organised by Geelong Olympic and Commonwealth Games marathon runner Lee Troop.
“Hopefully I should be able to do that comfortably,” Grgic says.
“I’ve had support from a range of people, and I’ve read some books.
“It sounds like a lot of people like myself, who do injuries doing other sports, find this is the easiest and you’re probably less likely to do an injury.”
Troop says regardless of being a beginner, intermediate or advanced runner, having a long run plan was vital to build up to running a marathon.
The New York City Marathon is the world’s biggest marathon. Picture: Getty Images
“Some people will go as low as 12 weeks, some people will go as high as 20 weeks. I personally like 16 weeks – it’s long enough that if you end up getting sick or injured, you will have a little bit more extra time up your sleeve,” Troop says.
“Making sure you have adequate time to prepare, and then put together a long run sequence plan, so you want to be able to build up each week and have your body absorb your training, so that you’re getting a little bit fitter and a little bit stronger every week, and not making drastic jumps in training.”
Getting the right equipment, such as shoes appropriate to a runner’s foot strike, weight and surfaces they run on, and shorts, singlet tops and socks to prevent blisters, is important Troop says, as is adequate fuelling such as hydration and nutrition, such as gels, so you don’t “bonk out” on a training run.
There are added layers, such as getting a massage once every few weeks, so that your body doesn’t get stiff and is obviously subtle, and not leading to injury, Troop says.
Olympians and elite athletes Lee Troop, Richard Coleman, Ellie Pashley and Daniel Hart with the Geelong Marathon course map. Lee Troop and some of the city’s elite athletes helped launch Geelong’s first ever Marathon and Running Festival. Picture: Alan Barber
“Also surfaces. It’s probably a bit of a tricky one, because we say that you should run on soft surfaces, but a lot of the shoes now have those carbon plates, and they’re got an extra thickness of foam in the shoe that helps minimise a lot of the impact that each step has as it hits the ground.
“In a perfect world, just making sure that not every single run is on a hard surface, your body can recover and absorb a little bit more without the initial hard impact of hitting the road, so to speak, or footpath, because your body does eventually end up getting beat up from all that training.”
Troop says the course for the inaugural Geelong Marathon has been certified for the first Geelong Running Festival, on September 20, while the council has also agreed to clear streets for Kids 1-Mile and All Abilities 1-Mile event on September 19, Troop says.
“We now have that certified, so if somebody runs a time, that will then qualify them for entry into, like, a New York marathon, Chicago marathon, London Marathon,” Troop says.
“Our numbers are tracking well, and there certainly seems to be a great deal of excitement in Geelong for people to run Geelong’s first marathon.”
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