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Koyama Breaks Shitara's CR, Tanui Takes 2nd Title at Gold Coast Marathon


On a windier than usual race morning the 2023 Gold Coast Marathon was kind of a throwback to ancient pre-pandemic history, 2019 to be specific. In the women's race, 2019 winner Rodah Jepkorir Tanui was the last woman left standing after a CR-pace 1:12:19 first half, fading the least in the strong headwinds after the turnaround point near 36.5 km and coming to the line in 2:27:10, 46 seconds better than when she won last time.

2018 winner Ruth Chebitok lost touch with Tanui around 25 km but held on for 2nd in 2:28:17. In 3rd, Australian Genevieve Gregson moved up through the field after a more conservative 1:14:19 first half, executing her debut perfectly with a 5-second negative split to finish in 2:28:33. In her first race since 2019, two-time world champion and two-time winner of both the Chicago and Berlin marathons Florence Kiplagat was 6th in 2:36:29. "I wished only to finish," she told JRN. "This was a start to again have something to my name." Top Japanese woman Haruka Yamaguchi was only 9th in 2:39:55.

In the men's race, Naoki Koyama also took the race back to 2019, running a 2:07:40 for the win and breaking the 2:07:50 CR his former Honda teammate Yuta Shitara had set that year. Race director Ryan McDonald told JRN that Koyama had been meticulous in his preparation, asking McDonald to drive him over the course two days before the race and sitting in the passenger seat comparing everything he was seeing with a stack of km-by-km course map printouts. "It reminded me of that scene in Cool Runnings where the guy was in the bathtub practicing the timing of the turns," McDonald said.

The race went out slightly faster than the planned 3:02/km pace, averaging closer to 3:01 through 23 km before the last pacer, Japan-based Benard Kimani, stepped off. Kimani told JRN that Koyama had been very communicative about the pace during the first 23 km, asking for small changes in both directions. After Kimani stopped, Australia's Liam Adams took over most of the work keeping the pace on track.

Adams told JRN the day before the race that even though he'd only had a 6-week buildup he thought he was in 2:08 shape, and he ran like it. By 30 km it was just him, Koyama and Kenyan duo Ezekiel Kemboi Omullo and Wilfred Kimitei left in contention. But around 33k km Koyama began to pull away, and as the pack shattered it was all about Koyama and the clock.

Despite strong headwinds over the last 5 and a half km, Koyama dropped the fastest splits in the field from 35 to 40 km and from 40 to the finish, cracking 2:08 for the first time and winning in a CR 2:07:40. Omullo was next in a 15-second PB of 2:08:26, with Adams chopping over 2 minutes off his PB in 2:08:39 for 3rd, the fastest time ever by an Australian on Australian soil.

Kimitei was the only other runner under 2:10, running 2:09:47 for 4th. Americans Josh Izewski and Jacob Thomson went 5-6 in PBs of 2:11:26 and 2:11:40, making it one of the deepest men's races in Gold Coast history. Defending champ Jo Fukuda was a distant 32nd in 2:25:31, but considering that he just ran Comrades last month you can kind of overlook this one.

In the wheelchair marathon, women's NR holder Tsubasa Kina was 2nd overall as she won in the women's race in 1:47:50 by almost 4 minutes over Australian Christie Dawes. Kota Hokinoue won the men's race in 1:36:35 by almost 20 minutes over Bill Chaffey. Post-race Kina told JRN, "I really liked the course, but the steep camber of the road on many sections made the chair pull to the left, so I was fighting that a lot of the time. This is a good course for racing, but it would be hard for a wheelchair to go really fast here because of that."

In the Southern Cross University 10 km, 44-year-old Lisa Weightman broke her own CR with an excellent 32:09, winning by 1:20. Dale Carroll took the top spot in the men's race in 29:29, with 2nd and 3rd-placers Toby Gillen and Liam Cashin both under 30 minutes.

Gold Coast Marathon and Southern Cross University 10 km

Gold Coast, Australia, 2 July 2023

Women's Marathon
1. Rodah Jepkorir Tanui (Kenya) - 2:27:10 
2. Ruth Chebitok (Kenya) - 2:28:17
3. Genevieve Gregson (Australia) - 2:28:33 - debut
4. Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 2:31:38
5. Marnie Ponton (Australia) - 2:34:28
6. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:36:29
7. Ella McCartney (Australia) - 2:38:43 - PB
8. Ella Higgins (Australia) - 2:39:41 - PB
9. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan/AC Kita) - 2:39:55
10. Kathryn Parkinson (Australia) - 2:40:43 - PB
-----
14. Tomomi Nakajima (Japan) - 2:45:57

Men's Marathon
1. Naoki Koyama (Japan/Honda) - 2:07:40 - CR, PB
2. Ezekiel Kemboi Omullo (Kenya) - 2:08:26 - PB
3. Liam Adams (Australia) - 2:08:39 - PB
4. Wilfred Kimitei (Kenya) - 2:09:47
5. Josh Izewski (U.S.A.) - 2:11:26 - PB
6. Jacob Thomson (U.S.A.) - 2:11:40 - PB
7. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/ADSD) - 2:12:35
8. Ed Goddard (Australia) - 2:12:52 - PB
9. Caden Shields (New Zealand) - 2:14:53
10. Akihiro Kaneko (Japan/Comodi Iida) - 2:15:04
11. Koki Yoshioka (Japan/Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:15:39
12. Yuki Takamiya (Japan/Yakult) - 2:16:44
-----
16. Yudai Fukuda (Japan) - 2:18:15
17. Taiyo Akiyama (Japan) - 2:18:41

Women's Wheelchair Marathon
1. Tsubasa Kina (Japan) - 1:47:50
2. Christie Dawes (Australia) - 1:51:13
3. Jacqueline Godfrey (Australia) - 2:14:10

Men's Wheelchair Marathon
1. Kota Hokinoue (Japan) - 1:36:35
2. Bill Chaffey (Australia) - 1:55:36
3. Matthew Brumby (Australia) - 2:11:01

Women's 10 km
1. Lisa Weightman (Australia) - 32:09 - CR
2. Sinead Noonan (Australia) - 33:29
3. Hannah Anderson (Australia) - 33:46
4. Victoria Skaltsonis (Australia) - 34:12
5. Katie St. Lawrence (Australia) - 34:47

Men's 10 km
1. Dale Carroll (Australia) - 29:29
2. Toby Gillen (Australia) - 29:35
3. Liam Cashin (Australia) - 29:40
4. Luke Hince (Australia) - 30:04
5. Thomas Campbell (Australia) - 30:14

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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