Friday 31st December 2010

The 2011 Club Marine Southern 80, one of Australia’s largest regional events, will
be held from 11 – 13 February 2011. Competitor numbers are stronger than this time last
year, a number of new key sponsors have been secured and the entertainment offering at
the finish line in 2011 will be much broader than previous events to attract additional families.

Earlier this week, the organisers of the Murray Marathon were forced to make some
logistical changes to their event which is starting next week. On this back of this news,
there have been some suggestions that the Club Marine Southern 80 will be
postponed, if not cancelled.

General Manager of Echuca Moama Events, Pete White, said ‘It is important that
we quash the speculation about whether the event will in fact be held. The water
level peaked on Tuesday morning at 92.6m and there has been a slow, but steady
decline since. Lengthy discussions have been held with various authorities over the
past couple of days and from all reports and forecasts, the river will still be high
in 7 weeks but not to the detriment of the event. We will continue to work with these
authorities over coming weeks to assess whether the water level places our
competitors at any greater risk, but as it stands, the Club Marine Southern 80 will
be held on the scheduled weekend’.

Shire of Campaspe Mayor Neil Pankhurst acknowledged that the event is a key
major event for the region, one which attracts many competitors and spectators.
"We will continue to work with the Southern 80 committee in preparation of this year's
event and no doubt the river will be quite different to that experienced by past
competitors."

For all further enquiries relative to the Club Marine Southern 80, please contact
Echuca Moama Events on 5480 7555.