Skip to main content

D'Amato Breaks U.S. Half Marathon NR, Robinson Over Mogi on the Gold Coast


American women now own the course records at both Australia's ASICS Half Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon.

With expert pacing from local great Ben St. Lawrence, former U.S. marathon NR holder Keira D'Amato negative split a 1:06:39 national record and Australian all-comers record to win the women's race in the half marathon Saturday. With a group of sub-elite men in town St. Lawrence took D'Amato through the first two 5 km splits in 15:52 and 15:55, just off pace for the 1:06:52 NR with a 1:07:03 projection. From there they incremented ever so slightly faster, with 15:49 and 15:45 splits to put D'Amato at 20 km in 1:03:22 and a 1:06:51 projected finish time.

Just holding what she had would have put her under the record, but D'Amato went hard over the last 1.0975 km, covering it in 3:17, or 2:59/km pace. And with that, she had a new NR and the fastest-ever time by a woman on Australian soil to her name. "The crowd support was great," she said post-race. "I really hope to come back next year and bring my family."
Australians took the next three spots, with Leanne Pompeani running a PB 1:09:07 for 2nd and Ellie Pashley and Izzi Batt-Doyle 3rd and 4th in 1:09:25 and 1:09:45. New Zealand's Camille French also made it under the 1:10 mark with a PB 1:09:58 for 5th. Olympic marathon trials winner Chiharu Ikeda was the top Japanese woman at 6th in a PB 1:10:12, with Kaede Kawamura and Misaki Hayashida 7th and 8th in 1:10:22 and 1:11:35.

The men's race played out almost 100% according to script, with 1:00:33 man Keijiro Mogi leading the first 16 km and Australian NR holder Brett Robinson sitting on his shoulder before kicking away with 5 km to go to win. Mogi had said pre-race that he planned to go for the 1:01:16 CR, but with no help from anyone else the pace stayed closer to just sub-63. Mogi made a series of small surges to kill off weaker competition, but Robinson, New Zealand's Cameron Avery and Chuo University's Jin Yuasa stayed in the picture until late.

A move from Mogi after the second turnaround dropped Yuasa and Avery, leaving only Robinson until the big move came at 16 km. Mogi did what he could to hang on, but Robinson had the advantage with a sub-60 PB and low energy expenditure up to that point. He pulled away for the repeat win in 1:02:16, Mogi closing hard but out of range and 2nd in 1:02:20. Avery had the race of his life, taking 2 1/2 minutes off his best with a 1:02:50 PB for 3rd. Yuasa was 4th in 1:03:19, with Chuo teammate Kazusa Takanuma 7th in 1:04:04.

ASICS Half Marathon

Gold Coast, Australia, 1 July 2023

Women
1. Keira D'Amato (U.S.A.) - 1:06:39 - NR, ACR
2. Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 1:09:07 - PB
3. Ellie Pashley (Australia) - 1:09:25
4. Izzi Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 1:09:45
5. Camille French (New Zealand) - 1:09:58
6. Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) - 1:10:12 - PB
7. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:10:22
8. Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) - 1:11:35
9. Sarah Klein (Australia) - 1:11:36 - PB
10. Gemma Maini (Australia) - 1:13:50 - debut
-----
18. Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) - 1:16:21

Men
1. Brett Robinson (Australia) - 1:02:16
2. Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:20
3. Cameron Avery (New Zealand) - 1:02:50 - PB
4. Jin Yuasa (Chuo Univ.) - 1:03:19
5. Ryan Gregson (Australia) - 1:03:40 - PB
6. Seth O'Donnell (Australia) - 1:03:40 - PB
7. Kazusa Takanuma (Chuo Univ.) - 1:04:04
8. Oska Inkster-Baynes (New Zealand) - 1:04:34 - PB
9. Christopher Dryden (New Zealand) - 1:04:36 - PB
10. James Nipperness (Australia) - 1:04:40 - debut

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...
Post a Comment
Read more