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Flanagan Breaks Gold Coast Marathon CR, Fukuda Takes Men's Race




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
-----
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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