Teen charged after car hits woman close to Melbourne marathon site

A teenage boy has been charged with a string of offences after allegedly hitting a woman with a stolen car as tens of thousands of people were running in the Melbourne Marathon nearby.

It comes as runners complained of safety concerns during the marathon, including one participant who claimed he and another woman were struck by race vehicles.

Victoria Police drew their guns around 10.30am on Sunday after the teenager drove the Ford Escape up Flinders Street and towards Swanston Street – about 150 metres from where tens of thousands of runners were taking part in the Melbourne Marathon. Moments earlier, the white SUV had hit the 57-year-old at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth streets.

The boy was eventually arrested without incident at Albert Park. Overnight, police charged him with 10 offences, including reckless conduct endangering serious injury and failing to render assistance. The latter offence carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison on its own.

Around the same time, two marathon competitors were reportedly clipped by course vehicles in the Albert Park area.

Following the race, Tasmania runner Dr Nathan Warner claimed on social media that he came across a female runner who had been hit by the pacer car.

Warner said when he stopped to offer the woman assistance, a passing motorcycle also there for the event clipped his back.

“It actually knocked me over almost down onto the patient,” he said. “And they didn’t even stop, they just continued on.”

Warner told this masthead on Monday that he was not injured by the motorbike, and had reported the incident to officials after the race.

Warner said the other runner suffered serious injuries, and would need surgery and weeks of recovery. “It’s good that they’ll be fine, but just not acceptable [that this has happened],” he said.

Another witness, Mark, told 3AW that he was in the final six kilometres of the race when he saw another runner get hit at Albert Park.

“The bikes sped past with their horns on, but then the cars just ploughed, and there wasn’t enough room for the slower marathon runners and the fast pace car, and the pace car just hit one of the marathon runners.”

It is unclear whether this was the same accident Warner witnessed before stopping to help.

Other runners said they were concerned about an undersupply of water throughout the course.

Isabelle Batty was undertaking her first-ever half-marathon when she noticed hydration stations at Albert Park lake had run out of water.

“People were lining up with cups and attempted to lift the giant water containers to get the last dribbles of water,” she said.

“All of a sudden there were lots of medics on bicycles everywhere, and people lying along the grass with feet in the air and receiving attention.”

St John’s ambulance, which provides on-course first aid for the marathon, confirmed it treated the woman in hospital and assessed Warner over the car accident, while it was too early to say how many people it treated for exhaustion-related problems.

The Age has contacted the Melbourne Marathon for comment.

Police allege the vehicle that hit the pedestrian on Flinders Street was stolen from a business in Cranbourne South, nearly an hour’s drive from Melbourne, at 2am on Sunday.

The teenage driver has been held in custody overnight ahead of facing children’s court on Monday, while police have confirmed the incident was not an act of terrorism or a targeted attack.

The 57-year-old woman suffered non-life threatening injuries to her upper body, and remains in hospital as of the most recent update.

The incident ultimately had no impact on the marathon, which was won by legendary Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge in a record time.

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