hello anon, that's so exciting!! i just started doing hms last year and so far have done the nike after dark and the hoka hm in sydney. i really enjoyed them both, though i am not sure if the nike hm is happening this year since i haven't heard any news about it yet? both are very scenic runs with plenty of waterfront time and the april/may timing is quite pleasant weather wise.

the nike hm had great vibes, really fun sunset/evening party atmosphere but i wasn't fully prepared to run it (my coworker hurt her back 2 days out and gave me her ticket and i'd only trained up to 15k at that point) so the last few ks were fairly torturous for me 😭 but i would definitely run it again if it's on this year and i don't think it was objectively a difficult route. i loved the hoka hm and will be running it this year again, it's the first and only time i've ever experienced runner's high like genuinely felt euphoric in the middle running past the harbour. i've heard that people dislike the elevation gain but i found it totally manageable and there's really only one hill climb towards the end of the route that stood out to me as a bit challenging. you can have a look at the course map here.

not syd/melb but my coworker is doing the gold coast mara and says the route is very flat and i think they have a half option! and if you're open to shorter runs (1/3 maras?) city2surf is a classic that i intend to run this year as well though infamously it has an evil hill climb and the weather was sooo miserable last year. it was my first ever >5k run though so i have some irrational fondness for it.

hope this helps you decide & good luck with your running plans 🫶