Charlie didn’t know how far a marathon was. Now he’s going to create history in Sydney
By Frances Howe
Fifteen years ago, when Charlie Maher was recruited for his first marathon, he didn’t even know how far he’d have to run to complete the course. Now, he’s aiming to become the first Indigenous Australian to finish all seven World Marathon Majors when he runs the Sydney Marathon next week.
When Maher, a Western Arrernte man from west of Alice Springs, was offered the chance to become one of the first Indigenous men to compete in the New York Marathon in 2010, he at first refused to try out, sceptical of what he viewed as potentially just another empty promise made to a member of his community.
Charlie Maher hopes to be the first Indigenous Australian to complete all seven World Marathon Majors when he competes in Sydney next week.Credit: Oscar Colman
The opportunity had come via the newly founded Indigenous Marathon Project (IMP), a foundation set up by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Robert de Castella which proposed to create a documentary by filmmaker Matt Long. De Castella saw the project as a way to improve the life outcomes for First Nations Australians through the sport he’d spent his life devoted to and which had created opportunities for him, including a world title in 1983.
“I was the only one [of the eventual four who would compete in the New York Marathon in 2010] who didn’t try out for the squad,” Maher said. “I just didn’t think it was a reality. Being from a small town, I had opportunities that didn’t come through, and I thought Rob de Castella was just another person promising us something, and it doesn’t happen, and it all falls through.
“It took a bit longer for me to trust in the idea, and it was only because of my mum that I trusted Robert because she grew up watching him run marathons and obviously represent Australia and win Commonwealth gold.”
Maher joined the project aged 25, having never run a marathon nor even knowing how long the course was. Months later, on November 7, 2010, Maher completed his first major marathon alongside four other Indigenous runners, Joseph Davies, Caleb Hart and Juan Darwin. In the years since, 156 other Indigenous athletes have joined them to train for and run an international marathon through the program.
Charlie Maher will run the Sydney Marathon to raise awareness of other Indigenous Marathon Foundation initiatives. Credit: Oscar Colman
While his 2010 teammates are no longer running, Maher is still going strong. In 2022, he became the first Indigenous Australian to finish the six World Marathon Majors – London, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo, New York and Boston. Now Sydney has been upgraded to major status, he’s aiming to become the first to finish all seven.
On August 31, now aged 42, Maher will run the Sydney Marathon to raise awareness for other programs overseen by the Indigenous Marathon Foundation (now the parent organisation overseeing the IMP), including the Warrior Project, which aims to create running programs for Indigenous youth in prisons and detention centres.
On top of gaining his seventh major medal next week, Maher is attempting to run eight marathons in one year. Again, all to raise awareness of the foundation’s programs to support opportunities for other Indigenous Australians.
In that way, Maher is continuing the project’s mission as it was first designed in 2009.
“It was all about opportunity,” he said. “I just enjoy running and making [an] impact and inspiring others to be better, and I just love the feeling of running and that’s why I continue to do it.”