General News
27 November, 2025
Dimboola Dash coming in April 2026
The inaugural Dimboola Dash Running Festival is set to take place on Sunday, April 12, 2026, with Brian Haddy organising the event.
After the success of the inaugural Horsham Running Festival in September, Mr Haddy was keen to organise another event after input from people in the region.
“The inaugural Dimboola Dash Running Festival follows hard on the heels of the Horsham Running Festival, which was run for the first time in September,” Haddy said.
“We had about 400 participants in that, and there seemed to be a real buzz about the event.
“I got asked lots of times, ‘What other events do you run?’, and I do other events in Mildura and Broken Hill, but they wanted something closer, so I started talking to people in Dimboola.”
Similar to the Horsham Running Festival, the Dimboola Dash offers a range of distances, including a marathon, half marathon, 10km, 5km, and a 2km Kids’ Dash.
All events will be run along a 7km stretch of trails between Dimboola and the Lochiel Rest Area, which forms part of the Wimmera River Discovery Trail.
Having organised a range of running events in recent years, Mr Haddy said he enjoys the community aspect of a running festival.
“These events, not only are they encouraging people to get into physical exercise and perhaps run or walk a distance they haven’t done before, but it’s a gentle community event that brings people together,” he said.
“There are so many troubles in the world at the moment, so being involved in these events helps me, and I think it helps the people involved.
“It is a community-building thing, which is why I do it, and if it’s anything like the Horsham Running Festival, it will be a great day.
“It will involve local suppliers as much as possible, I’m talking to progress associations, and it’s great that Dimboola Imagainarium has come on as a sponsor.”
With entries capped at 500, Mr Haddy is encouraging people to sign up, expecting them to travel to participate.
“We’ve already had more than 50 people sign up, and it’s still months away,” he said.
“It’s in the middle of the Victorian school holidays, so we expect it to attract some families, and that’s why we’ve got the Kids’ Dash, it’s not just about the elite runners.
While he has received interest from potential volunteers, Mr Haddy is encouraging anyone who wants to be involved to volunteer.
“I have made quite a few connections in Horsham who have offered to assist with the event,” he said.
“We’re looking for lots of volunteers as we want people to be welcomed at the drink station enthusiastically, we want some music, some high-fives, as well as people handing out lollies.
“These things can only be run with volunteers.”
Anyone who signs up can also purchase the official Dimboola Dash Running Festival shirt, designed by local artist Imigo Dawn.
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