Melbourne, March 30, 2026, 06:13 AEDT
More than 30,000 runners, walkers and families joined the Herald Sun/Transurban Run for the Kids in Melbourne on Sunday, raising A$1.32 million for the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal in the 20th edition of the event. The annual fundraiser gives participants rare access to CityLink landmarks including the Bolte Bridge and, on the longer course, the Domain Tunnel. 1
For Transurban, the event arrives at a useful moment. The company is bedding down the West Gate Tunnel after its December opening, has said widened sections of Sydney’s M7 will begin opening from March, and expects NSW toll reform work to be finalised in the first half of 2026. 2
The backdrop matters more than the charity run itself. Transurban reaffirmed in February FY26 distribution guidance of 69 Australian cents per security, up 6.2% on FY25, while Reuters market data showed the shares last closed at A$14.07 on Friday, up 0.8% on the day. 3
Chief Executive Michelle Jablko called the 20th edition “more inspiring than ever” and said it was an honour to open CityLink for the event. Herald & Weekly Times Chair Penny Fowler, who announced the fundraising total, described the turnout as a “real team effort.” 1
Official timing results showed Harry Norman won the men’s 14.4-km long course in 43:14, Donvé Viljoen led the women’s field in 48:42, and Qambar Ali Akhteyari took the wheelchair race in 43:17. Heidi Mitchell was the first female finisher in the short course with a time of 17:50. 4
Transurban has backed the fundraiser since its first race in 2006. In last year’s edition, 28,000 people took part and the event raised A$1.2 million, including an A$100,000 company donation, taking the cumulative total at that point to A$24.1 million, Transurban said in an April 2025 newsroom post. 5
The community event will not do much to shift the investment case on its own. In its first-half FY26 update, Transurban said Sydney toll revenue rose 4.1% to A$971 million, Melbourne climbed 7.3% to A$531 million, Brisbane rose 6.1% to A$323 million and North America jumped 18.9% to A$166 million. 6
But the harder questions for the stock still sit around toll policy and pricing. Transurban’s NSW reform proposal includes removing administration fees on toll notices by mid-2026 and paying the NSW government for induced demand linked to a permanent A$60 weekly toll cap from July 1, 2026, while preserving the value of its A$36 billion Sydney road investment; for investors, how that balance lands is likely to matter more than a single weekend of goodwill. 7
