ES Marks Athletics Field was originally named Sydney Athletics Field, with the track being constructed in 1906. It was renamed in the 1940s after former Lord Mayor of Sydney and leading athletics administrator, Ernest Samuel Marks.
The first cinders athletics track in New South Wales was laid at the venue in 1947. The track had six lanes at this time. It soon became known as the ‘Home of Athletics in NSW’.
The concrete grandstand was built in 1956 and a crowd of over 10,000 packed the venue to watch an Australia vs Great Britain vs USA meet post the 1956 Olympic Games.
Subsequently, ES Marks served as the main Sydney venue for athletics until the early 1970s. Once a synthetic track was laid in the early 1980s, it regained its prominence, until 1994 when Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre was opened.
The venue hosted the Australian Championships in 1962, 1968, 1973, 1980, 1987 and 1991.
The track was last resurfaced in 2022 as part of a $4.8m upgrade to the venue, involved relaying the track as well as enhancements to lighting (200 lux for competition), tree planting, improvements to the car park and introduction of a coach drop-off/pick-up zone.
The venue is used primarily as a competition venue for Little Athletics and school carnivals and is the main training venue for athletes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. However, the venue did host the 2024 Sydney Track Classic, the first major meet held at the venue since the 1994 Mars Challenge.
The track is managed by the Centennial Park & Moore Park Trust and open for training from Monday to Thursday, 3:30pm to 8:30pm.
Entry to the track is via Boronia Street. There is limited street parking available, which the venue primarily accessible via public transport along Anzac Parade.
The venue finished 8th in Australia’s Favourite Athletics Track competition in 2021.
The track was previously a previously Spurtan BV surface and is now surfaced with Rekortan M and is a World Athletics Class 2 Certified Facility.
