Gold Coast Half Marathon Elite Field

Fresh off the announcement of the elite fields for the ASICS Gold Coast Marathon come the fields for the China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon a day earlier on July 5. The top 3 Australian women from the June 1 Launceston Half Marathon, CR breaker Jessica Stenson, Caitlin Adams and Sarah Klein, are back together, with domestic competition Leanne Pompeani and Tara Palm and a group mostly from this year's National Corporate Half Marathon led by Yuri Mitsune, Wakana Itsuki and Aiwa Sakaguchi.

The main domestic protagonists from Launceston, Isaac Heyne, Brett Robinson, Liam Boudin, Sam Clifford, Andy Buchanan and Ryan Gregson, are all on the Gold Coast too, but where they faced a group from the Marugame Half in Launceston this time it's a massive National Corporate Half contingent led by sub-61 men Yuma Nishizawa, Hideyuki Tanaka and Yoshiki Oshiro. 2:05 marathoner Kenya Sonota is also on the list, quietly down near the bottom of the elite field with only a 1:03:29 recent best in the half. National Corporate Half winner Tsubasa Ichiyama will be pacing to 25 km the next day in the marathon instead of running the half.

The race starts at 6:15 a.m. local time on July 5, with streaming on Youtube. JRN will be on-site on the Gold Coast as usual.

China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon

Elite Field Highlights

Gold Coast, Australia, 5 July 2025

times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Women

Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 1:09:01 (Melbourne 2024)

Jessica Stenson (Australia) - 1:09:04 (Melbourne 2024)

Yuri Mitsune (Japan/Hitachi) - 1:10:23 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Tara Palm (Australia) - 1:10:55 (Osaka 2025)

Wakana Itsuki (Japan/Kyudenko) - 1:11:00 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2023)

Caitlin Adams (Australia) - 1:11:14 (Launceston 2025)

Aiwa Sakaguchi (Japan/Bears) - 1:11:18 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Madoka Nakano (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:22 (Sanyo Ladies 2023)

Sarah Klein (Australia) - 1:11:38 (Gold Coast 2023)

Abigail Nordberg (Australia) - 1:13:01 (Launceston 2024)

Sufang Pan (China) - 1:13:05 (Harbin 2024)

Men

Andy Buchanan (Australia) - 1:00:28 (Marugame 2025)

Yuma Nishizawa (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:29 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Hideyuki Tanaka (Japan/Toyota) - 1:00:43 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Yoshiki Oshiro (Japan/Toyota Kyushu) - 1:00:43 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Isaac Heyne (Australia) - 1:01:13 (Launceston 2025)

Brett Robinson (Australia) - 1:01:20 (Launceston 2025)

Sota Namikawa (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:01:38 (Marugame 2025)

Liam Boudin (Australia) - 1:01:40 (Launceston 2025)

Jun Nobuto (Japan/Mazda) - 1:01:57 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Sam Clifford (Australia) - 1:02:00 (Launceston 2025)

Hitoshi Okahara (Japan/Chudenko) - 1:02:09 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2025)

Yue Hong (China) - 1:02:15 (Meishan 2025)

Kotaro Tahara (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:40 (Marugame 2025)

Ryan Gregson (Australia) - 1:03:00 (Larne 2024)

Updates on Transfers

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Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

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After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

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