Running News Daily

Kenyan Kenneth Mungara, Bernard lagat, Zane Robertson and Yuki Kawauchi are ready to compete at Gold Coast Marathon

Can the man dubbed ‘King Kenneth’ by race organizers, Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara, continue to hold back the years to achieve a fourth victory on the Gold Coast? Has Bernard ‘Kip’ Lagat learned enough from a humbling marathon debut in New York last year to mount a credible challenge? Can New Zealand’s Zane Robertson, who missed last year’s Commonwealth Games marathon on the Gold Coast through injury, atone with a victory this time and perhaps take the family record off twin brother Jake into the bargain?

First, let’s take Mungara, as befits an athlete who is the defending champion and holds the race and Australian all-comers’ records with his 2:08:42 in 2015. Sunday will be precisely two months before his 46th birthday, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Should he win again, Mungara will join Pat Carroll, who himself has the credentials to be considered king of the Gold Coast, and Margaret Reddan as four-time winners of the event.

He may not even be first in category. Bernard Lagat turns 45 in December. By any measure, Lagat is the best all-round distance runner to compete in the Gold Coast race. A silver and bronze Olympic medallist at 1500m and second-fastest ever at the event, world over 1500m and 5000m in Osaka in 2007 – he sits comfortably in any conversation of track distances up to, and including, the 10,000m. The marathon is another matter. His debut of 2:17:20 in New York last year was a harsh learning experience and left him with something to prove.

“One of the most important things I learned from running the New York Marathon,” Lagat said when his Gold Coast commitment was announced, “was the experience of ‘hitting the wall’. A lot of people warned me about it and told me to watch for it, but nothing quite teaches you like living through that experience… I panicked a bit, questioned myself if I could finish.”

If Lagat has conquered those doubts, he could be a big factor on the Gold Coast.

Zane Roberston believes he could have won the Commonwealth Games race. A half-marathon PB of 59:47 suggest that is more than just idle talk. He was happy to talk up his chances pre-race.

“First and foremost, I always target the win,’ Robertson said. “I want to run as fast as the pacemakers allow and once they step off the road anything can be possible. Perhaps a new Oceania record?”

Robert de Castella holds the Oceania record at 2:07:51, his winning time the first year the Boston marathon went open in 1986. Of equal note, Zane’s twin brother Jake holds the New Zealand, and family, record at 2:08:26.

The Gold Coast race also serves as the Oceania championships, so the Oceania champion will accrue valuable rankings points for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Kenyan pair Ezekiel Chebii and Philip Sanga Kimutai both boast personal bests of 2:06:07, the former from 2016 in Amsterdam, the latter from 2011 in Frankfurt. But the man with the most recent 2:06-clocking is Japan’s Yuta Shitara who ran a national record 2:06:11 in Tokyo last year, a mark subsequently bettered by Suguru Osako’s 2:05:50 in Chicago. Along with the indefatigable Yuki Kawauchi, he gives Japan a strong hand in what has been traditionally a strong race for them.

(07/05/2019) Views: 2,082 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Derek Clayton who held the World Marathon Record for 14 years, says shoes and pacemakers is why today's times are so fast

DID YOU KNOW: On June 12, 1965 Japan's Morio Shigematsu broke Abebe Bikila's world marathon record clocking 2:12:00 at the Polytechnic Marathon near London. Then on December 3, 1967 Australian's Derek Clayton shattered that record clocking 2:09:36 at the Fukuoka Marathon.

Derek was training over 250 miles a week and was clearly the world's best marathoner at that time. Then on May 30, 1969 he ran a marathon in Antwerp, Belgium mostly on cobble stones. He clocked 2:08:33 beating his own time by over a minute. 

Skeptics throughout the following decades would speculate that the course must have been short. Yet only 11 days before his historic run in Belgium, Derek ran at high altitude and won a marathon in Turkey May 19th clocking 2:17:26.

“I had to run faster than I'd planned. If I hadn't run in Turkey I would have run 2:07 in Antwerp," Clayton said. "Maybe the course was short but Derek had nothing to do with that," says Bob Anderson, MBR & RW founder and a good friend of Derek.

"Any way, worse case scenario is that Derek held the world record he set in Fukuoka until Ron Hill ran faster (2:09:28) on July 23, 1970. That is two and half years.

Best case scenario, Derek held the world record for 14 years, until Robert De Castella ran 2:08:18 December 6, 1981 at Fukuoka. Derek was one of the world best marathoners of all times, the first under 2:10.

Yet even today when Derek's name comes up there is talk about the possible "short" course. I think it is about time we give him the credit that is due."

Yes, times today have gotten a lot better but there are two things that are clearly different today. "...the shoes they are wearing...and something I am dead set against, pacemakers," says Derek.

(04/19/2018) Views: 2,694 ⚡AMP
by Bob Anderson

Robert de Castella recalls his Commonwealth Games moment as one of his greatest memories

The 2018 Commonwealth Games is an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth. It will be held April 4-15 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia... In 1982 when the event was held in Brisbane, Australia Rob de Castella won the marathon in 2:09:18 just six seconds off the Games record of 2:09:12 set by Ian Thompson in 1974 in Christchurch. Robert recalls the moment as one of his “great memories” from a career that included four Olympic Games and three top 10 finishes. De Castella, now 61, said he cannot return to Brisbane without thinking about his captivating performance in 1982. "The 1982 Games was a launching pad for my career. Everything changed for me after that. The privilege of running a marathon in front of my countrymen and women was incredible." ABC commentator Tim Lane says, “It’s a performance to remember for all time," as he neared the finish line. “These days the crowd could get close to the runners...that Brisbane race is one of the great memories I have of my athletics." (03/05/2018) Views: 1,861 ⚡AMP