As Australia's Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon returned for the first time since 2019, Lindsay Flanagan became its first American winner female or male, taking 6 seconds off the course record and over 2 minutes off her PB to take 1st in 2:24:43. Accompanied by dedicated male pacers and a large group of men in a race that never saw a lead women's group congeal, Flanagan went through halfway in 1:11:59 and then sped up even further, clocking her two fastest 5 km splits of the race, 16:52 and 16:47, from 20 to 25 km and 25 to 30 km. The effects of that came down on her after 30 km as she slowed beyond 3:30/km, but with a rally over the last km she held on to crack Ruth Chebitok's 2018 CR of 2:24:49.
Post-race Flanagan and her coach, Australian NR and Oceania AR holder Benita Johnson, were elated, having just met each other in person a few days before the race after a year of online coaching.
Like Flanagan, 2nd-placer and local favorite Lisa Weightman, the CR holder in Gold Coast's 10 km and half marathon divisions, ran the entire way with only male accompaniment, splitting halfway in 1:12:36 and coming home in 2:25:55, the best-ever by an Australian woman at Gold Coast and the 2nd-best time of her career. 3rd-placer Shiho Kaneshige started more conservatively with a 1:14:00 first half, passing American Stephanie Bruce just before 20 km and staying on track to break her 2:28:51 PB until late in the race when she faded to 2:29:12, also a career 2nd-best and her first time sub-2:30 outside Japan.
While the top women all ran separately, a lead group of 4 men shook out by 5 km, with Australian Liam Adams pacing Japan's Jo Fukuda and Akihiro Kaneko, Belgian Amaury Paquet and fellow Aussie Samuel Gebremichael on track to just break 2:10. When Adams dropped off before 20 km Fukuda took over, he and Kaneko quickly dropping the other two and pulling away. Fukuda, whose 2:09:52 best was set on the Gold Coast in 2018, disposed of Kaneko just past 25 km and ran the rest of the way alone, making good on his race logo-themed hair dye job with his first-ever marathon win in 2:10:55. In contrast to the fast women's race, it was the slowest men's winning time since 2010. Kaneko was 2nd in 2:14:25, Paquet taking 3rd in 2:15:45.
Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Madison de Rozario fought off Paralympic teammate Christie Dawes to win the women's wheelchair division, her time of 1:46:58 good enough for 3rd overall. The only men to beat her were Jake Lappin, 1st by a wide margin in 1:37:32 and Luke Bailey, just hanging on to 2nd overall in 1:46:01.
A complete replay of all four races in the marathon:
In Saturday's Asics Half Marathon, Eloise Wellings outran 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games marathon teammate Jessica Stenson 1:10:53 to 1:11:35 for the win in wetter conditions that what the marathoners faced 24 hours later. Both Wellings and Stenson headed straight overseas post-race for altitude training in preparation for Birmingham. National and Oceania record holder Brett Robinson had a relatively conservative win in the men's race, outkicking Ed Goddard by 5 seconds for the win in 1:03:14. The likewise Birmingham-bound Liam Adams was 5th in 1:05:32 before taking on lead men's pacing duties the next day. Chuo University's Haruto Wakabayashi cracked the top 10 with an 8th-place finish in a PB 1:04:29. A complete replay of the half marathon:
In Sunday's Southern Cross University 10 km, Leanne Pompeani led an all-Aussie top 3 under 33 minutes, winning in 32:21. Isaac Heyne took another win for Australia in 29:03, but behind him Wan Chun Wong took over a minute off his own Hong Kong NR for 2nd in 29:27. 4th-placer Jordan Gusman ran 29:39, almost a minute and a half under the official Maltese NR but exactly a minute slower than his unratified best.
Village Road Show Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon
Gold Coast, Australia, 3 July 2022
Women's Marathon
1. Lindsay Flanagan (U.S.A.) - 2:24:43 - CR, PB
2. Lisa Weightman (Australia) - 2:25:55
3. Shiho Kaneshige (Japan) - 2:29:12
4. Stephanie Bruce (U.S.A.) - 2:32:22
5. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan) - 2:34:49
6. Nera Jareb (Australia) - 2:35:00
7. Anna Kelly (Australia) - 2:36:44
8. Rachel McGuinness (Great Britain) - 2:36:55
9. Beth McKenzie (Australia) - 2:38:19
10. Tennille Ellis (Australia) - 2:39:08
Men's Marathon
1. Jo Fukuda (Japan) - 2:10:55
2. Akihiro Kaneko (Japan) - 2:14:25
3. Amaury Paquet (Belgium) - 2:15:45
4. Louis McAfee (Australia) - 2:17:50
5. Samuel Gebremichael (Australia) - 2:18:00
6. Jacob Cocks (Australia) - 2:19:03
7. Aidan Hobbs (Australia) - 2:20:08
8. Patrick Stow (Australia) - 2:20:20
9. Nick Earl (Australia) - 2:20:28
10. Ben Kelly (Australia) - 2:21:49
Women's Wheelchair Marathon
1. Madison de Rozario (Australia) - 1:46:58
2. Christie Dawes (Australia) - 1:47:27
3. Jacqueline Godfrey (Australia) - 1:59:24
Men's Wheelchair Marathon
1. Jake Lappin (Australia) - 1:37:32
2. Luke Bailey (Australia) - 1:46:01
3. Richard Colman (Australia) - 1:58:21
Women's Half Marathon
1. Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 1:10:53
2. Jessica Stenson (Australia) - 1:11:35
3. Laura Nagel (New Zealand) - 1:15:50
4. Regina Jensen (Australia) - 1:16:19
5. Hannah Miller (New Zealand) - 1:16:57
Men's Half Marathon
1. Brett Robinson (Australia) - 1:03:14
2. Ed Goddard (Australia) - 1:03:19
3. Tim Vincent (Australia) - 1:03:31
4. Liam Boudin (Australia) - 1:03:38
5. Liam Adams (Australia) - 1:03:52
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8. Haruto Wakabayashi (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:04:29 - PB
18. Yudai Nakazawa (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:06:53
Women's 10 km
1. Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 32:21
2. Paige Campbell (Australia) - 32:35
3. Sarah Kleine (Australia) - 32:52
4. Caitlin Adams (Australia) - 33:03
5. Cara Woolnough (Australia) - 33:16
Men's 10 km
1. Isaac Heyne (Australia) - 29:03
2. Wan Chun Wong (Hong Kong) - 29:27 - NR
3. Arron Spiessberger-Parker (Australia) - 29:33
4. Jordan Gusman (Malta) - 29:39 - NR
5. Jack Bruce (Australia) - 29:51
photos and text © 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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