For the second time in a month Australians Andy Buchanan, Isaac Heyne, Sam Clifford, Ryan Gregson and Brett Robinson faced off against a big group of 60-61 minute Japanese men pulled in from a big February half marathon, and for the 2nd year in a row Buchanan outkicked them all for the win at the China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon.
Robinson, 3rd at last month's Launceston Half Marathon, got things moving with a fast start that put the race on pace to go just over 60 minutes, well under Pat Carroll's 1:01:11 Australian all-comers record that Launceston winner Teruki Shimada missed by just 1 second. Yuma Nishizawa, 1:00:29 at February's National Corporate Half Marathon where most of the Japanese men in the field ran, took over to keep it moving, then handed over to Launceston runner-up Isaac Heyne. Heyne did most of the work the rest of the way, the pace gradually slowing and incrementing over Carroll's record, until a move from 2:07 marathoner Naoya Sakuda around 17 km broke things up.
Only Heyne and 2:05 marathoner Kenya Sonota went with him, with Buchanan, 1:00:28 at Marugame in February, lagging a few seconds back. But Buchanan spent the next few km reeling them back in, and went they went wide on a curve to the right just before 20 km he took the inside course to go past them all into the lead. It was pretty cool to hear the crowd reaction in the stands at the finish when he did it, and the roars were even louder when he held off Sonota and Sakuda to come to the finish line 1st in 1:01:08, 3 seconds under Carroll's record. Sonota made it under too with a 1:01:10 PB, Sakuda tying it in a 1:01:11 PB and Heyne a short way back in 4th in 1:01:18. "London and Launceston didn't go as well as I had hoped," Buchanan told JRN, "It feels good to feel like things are back on track now."
Launceston winner Jessica Stenson took the women's race out with top-seeded Leanne Pompeani and #3-ranked Yuri Mitsune in tow. But like Robinson Stenson faded from the lead, leaving Pompeani to more or less solo a steady run the rest of the way to win in 1:09:14. "I had an injury right before Launceston and had to pull out, so it was great to pull it back together and win here," she told JRN post-race. 3rd in Launceston, Caitlin Adams bettered the PB she had set there with a 1:10:26 best for 2nd, with veteran Madoka Nakano pulling out a PB of her own for 3rd in 1:10:40.
China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon
Top Results
Gold Coast, Australia, 5 July 2025
Men
1. Andy Buchanan (Australia) - 1:01:08 - ACR
2. Kenya Sonota (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:10 - PB
3. Naoya Sakuda (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:11 - PB
4. Isaac Heyne (Australia) - 1:01:18
5. Sam Clifford (Australia) - 1:01:49 - PB
6. Yuma Nishizawa (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:04
7. Kotaro Tahara (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:06 - PB
8. James Hansen (Australia) - 1:02:19 - PB
9. Oli Chignell (New Zealand) - 1:02:34 - PB
10. Ryan Gregson (Australia) - 1:03:14
Women
1. Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 1:09:14
2. Caitlin Adams (Australia) - 1:10:26 - PB
3. Madoka Nakano (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:10:40 - PB
4. Wakana Itsuki (Japan/Kyudenko) - 1:11:07
5. Tara Palm (Australia) - 1:12:08
6. Tiana Cetta (Australia) - 1:13:22 - PB
7. Yuri Mitsune (Japan/Hitachi) - 1:13:28
8. Aiwa Sakaguchi (Japan/Bears) - 1:13:41
9. Sarah Klein (Australia) - 1:14:07
10. Danette Sheehan (Canada) - 1:14:16 - debut
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