Web / App GPS Audio Guide
The only audio guide that tells you which way to look
The guide speaks when the GPS brings you to a place on the course, so here it would stay silent. Let it run the course for you instead: in a minute you will hear how it tells you which way to look.
On 20 August we drove the full 42 km of the route and filmed every kilometre of it from the driver's seat — North Sydney start line, the Harbour Bridge, the city, the eastern suburbs, Centennial Park and the finish at the Opera House, in one continuous run. What you see matches the runners' course closely; a handful of streets had to be driven the legal way round, because runners go against the direction cars are allowed to travel there. Three stretches are filmed the opposite way for exactly that reason — George Street, Castlereagh Street, and the loop around Mrs Macquarie's Chair at 19:20–20:20 in the video.
The route starts in North Sydney, crosses the Harbour Bridge in the first few kilometres, works through the city and Pyrmont, runs out to the eastern suburbs and Centennial Park, and comes back along the harbour to finish at the Opera House. Here is what you pass, in order — and what this guide talks about while you pass it.
The start is on Miller Street, in the middle of North Sydney's office towers. The road drops towards the water past Coopers Lookout, with Luna Park and Milsons Point below, and then the deck of the Sydney Harbour Bridge opens up around the 2.5 km mark — southbound, with the harbour and the Opera House on your left. It is one of the very few mornings in the year when the bridge deck belongs to people on foot instead of to traffic.
Off the southern end of the bridge the course runs into the oldest part of European Sydney: the Argyle Cut, hand-chiselled through solid sandstone by convict gangs, the Garrison Church, the Hero of Waterloo and the Lord Nelson — two pubs that have argued for a century about which one is the city's oldest — and Observatory Hill above them.
A long out-and-back along the western waterfront: Cockle Bay and the ICC, the Australian National Maritime Museum, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, then up Harris Street through Pyrmont past The Star and Google's Sydney office, with the White Bay cruise terminal across the water, before the course turns and comes back down Darling Harbour.
Barangaroo and the Crown tower, then Dawes Point directly under the bridge pylons, back through The Rocks past Cadman's Cottage and Susannah Place, and out onto Circular Quay — where you can see the finish line across the water with 30 km still to run.
Through the middle of the city: Customs House, Martin Place, Pitt Street Mall and the Queen Victoria Building with Sydney Tower above them, then east onto Macquarie Street past Parliament House, the Mint, Sydney Hospital and the State Library, with Hyde Park, the Archibald Fountain and St Mary's Cathedral ahead.
Up Oxford Street through Darlinghurst and past the old courthouse at Taylor Square, out through Moore Park and onto Anzac Parade: the long, straight, exposed southern leg towards Kensington and Kingsford.
The southernmost point of the day, and then the same wide road back north. Little shade, few corners and the longest stretch of the course without a landmark to count down — this is the part the video is worth watching twice.
In through the park gates and around Grand Drive, past the Federation Pavilion that marks the spot where the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901, then back out through Moore Park.
Down Crown Street and Oxford Street through Surry Hills and Darlinghurst, past the Australian Museum and the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park South, and along the Registrar-General's Building towards the Domain.
The last stretch is the best of it: down through the Domain past the Art Gallery of NSW, around Woolloomooloo Bay and out to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, where the bridge and the Opera House line up in one view, then back through the Royal Botanic Garden to the finish on the Opera House forecourt.
Kilometre marks above are approximate: they come from our own drive of the route and can differ from the official course markings. On the day, follow the official course map and the marshals. On race morning the streets on this route are closed to traffic from early in the morning — check the official road-closure notices before you drive anywhere near the course.
Yes — the live course map is free, with no time limit and no sign-up. It draws the whole route and shows where you are on it. Only the audio is paid: five attractions and five minutes of the podcast are free, and the full guide is A$35 for a day or A$49 for three days.
No. This is a web page, not an app store download — it opens in the browser on any phone, and the commentary plays through headphones or a car stereo. If you want an icon on your home screen you can add one, but there is nothing to install.
Both GUIDE and PODCAST are ON by default (lit buttons). You can turn off either one any time:
🔴 Reset (red R button, top-left next to the day/night toggle): the guide remembers which attractions you have already heard on this device — even the next day — and won't repeat them. If the attraction cards look greyed-out (marked ✓ Played) and stay silent as you pass them — that's why. Tap the red R to erase that history so the whole course plays again from the start — use it if you preview the route before race day and then want the full guide again on the day.
🗺️ Map controls: tap the compass icon to switch North Up / Heading Up — Heading Up turns the map with you and tilts the view like a navigator. Two-finger gestures are enabled: twist to turn the map, slide both fingers up or down to tilt, pinch two fingers together to zoom out or spread them apart to zoom in. On a computer hold Ctrl and drag; + / − to zoom. Tap any pin to bring that attraction’s card to the top of the list.
By using this guide you agree to our Terms & Conditions. Watch where you are going and follow the marshals and the official course markings at all times. Anonymous GPS session data is logged for service improvement. An independent city guide by a local Sydney guide, operating since 2006. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the event, its organisers or sponsors.