Skip to main content

Buchanan and Pompeani Win Gold Coast Half Marathon

 

The winner of Tokyo's Year End Half Marathon in 2019, Andy Buchanan ran a crafty race to beat four sub-61 Japanese men and the debuting Australian Isaac Heyne at the Gold Coast Half Marathon. Smiling most of the way, Heyne led on 2:59/km pace through the turnaround point just before 11 km before Koki Kamata took over. From there it was a series of turnovers that took the lead group down to just Heyne, favorite Shunsuke Shikama, 2:06 marathoner Daisuke Doi, and Buchanan. All of them made moves in the last 2 km, but Buchanan made the definitive one in the last km, pulling away to win in a PB 1:02:20. After falling slightly behind, Heyne fought back for 2nd in 1:02:22 with Doi getting Shikama on the line for 3rd, both clocking 1:02:25. Four other Japanese men including 2:05 marathoner Kenya Sonota made the top 10.

The women's race started out as a trio with Australians Leanne Pompeani and Jessica Stenson, and two-time winner Sara Hall. Hall was the first to drop off, and over the second half of the race Pompeani ground Stenson down to win easily in 1:09:16 unofficially. Tuning up for the Paris Olympics marathon after a controversial Australian selection process, Stenson ran a PB 1:09:54 for 2nd, with Hall almost a minute further back in 3rd in 1:10:48. That time was in range of all three Japanese women in the race, but all three were non-factors and finished in the 1:13-1:14 range. Rinka Hida was first among them at 7th in 1:13:20.

Gold Coast Half Marathon Top Results

Gold Coast, Australia, 6 July 2024

Men
1. Andy Buchanan (Australia) - 1:02:20 - PB
2. Isaac Heyne (Australia) - 1:02:22 - debut
3. Daisuke Doi (Japan/Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:25
4. Shunsuke Shikama (Japan/Logisteed) - 1:02:25
5. Koki Kamata (Japan/Yakult) - 1:02:58
6. Cameron Avery (New Zealand) - 1:03:02
7. Naoya Sakuda (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:03:03
8. Soshi Suzuki (Japan/Yasukawa Denki) - 1:03:04
9. Kenya Sonota (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:03:18
10. Oli Chignell (New Zealand) - 1:03:21
-----
13. Rei Yamahira (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:03:49
15. Haruki Abe (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:04:20

Women
1. Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 1:09:16 (unoff)
2. Jessica Stenson (Australia) - 1:09:54 - PB
3. Sara Hall (U.S.A.) - 1:10:48
4. Natasha Wodak (Canada) - 1:11:18
5. Andrea Seccafien (Canada) - 1:11:28
6. Vanessa Wilson (Australia) - 1:12:51
7. Rinka Hida (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - 1:13:20
8. Yukari Nagatomo (Japan/Memolead) - 1:13:41
9. Moe Shimizu (Japan/Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:14:30
10. Anneke Grogan (New Zealand) - 1:15:12

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...
2 comments
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Shikama and Njeri Win Sendai International Half Marathon

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...
Post a Comment
Read more