1986 - present

If you’ve ever been part of Sydney’s City2Surf fun run, the chances are you have bumped into a group of ‘gorillas’ somewhere along the way. Otherwise known as the Stanley-Jones family, the Gorillas have been long-time fixtures in the popular foot race covering the 14km course from Sydney’s city centre to Bondi Beach.

Paul Stanley-Jones, who hails from Woodburn on the NSW north coast, had been running the City2Surf with his parents and two brothers since the early 1980s. But one year, Paul, then 16, and his schoolmate decided to do ‘something different’ and ran the 1986 race in hired gorilla costumes. The legend of the City2Surf Gorillas was born. Then Paul’s brother, Rob, joined in the fun and, after 19 years of renting the gorilla suits, they finally decided to buy them.

Amazingly, a member of the Stanley-Jones family has run the City2Surf as a gorilla since 1986. When the brothers were overseas during the 1990s, their parents, Michael and Cynthia, took the baton and kept the gorilla theme going. In recent years, Paul’s son Harry has become a third gorilla.

The Gorillas have become firm fan favourites of the City2Surf, and they even have a local fruit shop owner who provides them with bananas each year. Their race times are not improving, however. As Paul and Rob attest, it takes longer each year to finish the race, as more and more people stop them along the way to take photos with them. It’s a good excuse for their decreasing fitness.

Running the City2Surf has been a family affair for the Stanley-Joneses, with three brothers, their parents, and now the brothers’ children continuing the tradition. At their peak, as many as 17 family members have run together - although not all as gorillas.

Sadly, the patriarch of the Stanley-Jones family, Michael, passed away in 2014 from leukaemia. Since then, his family has run to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. Despite the 2020 and 2021 City2Surf races being held as virtual events because of the Covid pandemic, the family have maintained their presence in the race.

Courtesy of City to Surf.