Running News Daily

The marathon has always been a race against human limits, but the distance between generations has never felt wider than it does today.

In 1990, Australian distance legend Steve Moneghetti produced one of the defining performances of his era when he stormed to victory at the Berlin Marathon in 2:08:16. At the time, the mark stood less than two minutes outside the world record — a remarkable achievement in an age when marathon running still seemed bound by barriers many believed could never be broken.

That performance elevated Moneghetti to the status of the 16th fastest marathoner in history, placing him among the sport’s global elite. His name carried weight in an era where every second shaved from the clock represented years of progress in training, nutrition, racing tactics, and endurance science.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape of marathon running has transformed almost beyond recognition.

At the recent London Marathon, both Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha delivered astonishing sub-2:00 performances, a feat that underlines the breathtaking evolution of the event. Times once considered untouchable are now being attacked with fearless ambition, as a new generation continues to redefine what the human body can endure over 42.195 kilometres.

The contrast perfectly captures the sport’s relentless progression. What once established an athlete among history’s greatest would no longer guarantee a place near the top of the modern rankings. Moneghetti himself reflected on that reality with remarkable honesty, noting that a performance which once made him the 16th fastest man ever would not even place him inside the top 100 today.

Yet that comparison does not diminish the greatness of past champions. Instead, it highlights how pioneers like Moneghetti helped lay the foundation for the marathon revolution unfolding today. Every generation pushes the boundaries further, inspiring the next to dream beyond what once appeared possible.

From Berlin in 1990 to London in the sub-2 era, marathon running has evolved from a test of endurance into a showcase of extraordinary human advancement. And judging by the speed of today’s athletes, the sport may still be far from reaching its final frontier.

Sydney Marathon officials are in talks to bring the greatest marathon runner in history, Eliud Kipchoge, to the 2024 race and help Sydney secure a prestigious new status as a world “major” marathon.

The Sydney Marathon, which began in 1999, is bidding to formally become one of the world’s leading 42.195km races, alongside legendary events such as the London Marathon and the New York Marathon.

Similar to tennis and golf, the top six marathons in the world – Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, London and New York – are known as the “World Marathon Majors”. Each event attracts elite fields, and huge amounts of amateur applicants, every year.

Many marathon enthusiasts set out to collect a six-star medal, earned by running in each of the majors.

In coming years, however, the medal is likely to be upgraded with the organisation taking on three candidates for potential entry into the elite club: Sydney, Cape Town and Chengdu in China.

The Sydney Marathon announced its candidacy in July and the evaluation process runs for three years. It is already regarded as the strongest candidate.

“It’s a big deal for a number of reasons,” Sydney Marathon race director Wayne Larden said. “The main one is just the sheer volume of runners that take part in these events. Every single one of the Abbotts World Marathon Major events is oversubscribed by between 250,000 and 400,000 runners.

“Which means when we become a major, our numbers are going to leap, with people wanting to get that seventh star. We are expecting a huge boost in numbers, a massive increase in economic impact.”

Though recently upgraded on World Athletics’ ranking system to a “platinum” marathon – making it the eighth best in the world – the Sydney event is relatively modest compared to the majors, which have about 50,000 finishers. Sydney usually has about 5000 finishers, although many thousands more compete in the half-marathon and 10km events run simultaneously.

Destination NSW is backing Sydney’s candidacy for major status and the reasons are straightforward, says Larden. With tens of thousands of tourists coming to race each year, studies show cities gets a massive financial boost. The Chicago Marathon generated almost $600 million for the city’s economy this year.

Sydney must meet certain criteria for two years in a row over the next three years before a vote of other race directors can upgrade it to a major. The tourism and grandeur components are well-covered, with the race route including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House as a finish line.

But Sydney will also have to increase its finishers to 15,000 and support the race in bigger numbers like the other major marathons, where there is a culture of people lining the course to cheer on runners, entertainment and a festival atmosphere.

“There are benchmark things, you either have it or you don’t. Is the air clean? Is it a marketable city? Do people want to visit? These are things we have; Sydney is a beautiful place and a global destination,” Larden said.

“More specific things, there are a few key things. We have to triple our number of finishers in the marathon, we have to engage the Sydney community and get them out on the course, like what runners experience in Boston or New York or London. We have to get people out and cheering people on their journey.”

The Sydney Marathon course – which this year saw the fastest time ever run in Australia by Kenya’s Moses Kibet (two hours, seven minutes, two seconds) – will also be altered slightly, replacing the narrow sections of course winding along the edge of wharves at Pyrmont, with more roadway. And it will become a standalone race, with a half-marathon and shorter runs done a day before.

Australian marathon legend Steve Moneghetti, who won the Berlin Marathon in 1990 and is an adviser to the Sydney Marathon, believes the event can be the equal of any in the world.

“I can tell you that in all the world’s top marathons, and I ran a fair few of them, that no one has anything close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House on the course. They are iconic,” he said.

“You name me any city in the world and if you can name a better start/finish than that, then you’ve got me. That’s the selling point.

“It is really exciting. And I was a bit surprised, I thought, ‘The world marathon majors? Hey the six is the six and that’s that’. When I sort of considered it, I thought, ‘Yeah, why should it be just those six?’ Marathon running is booming around the world and it’s nice to think they are open to adding to it and Sydney is in the running for it.”

Kipchoge is undisputedly the greatest marathon runner ever, and proved as much by breaking the world record in Berlin in September, running 2:01.09.

The 2016 and 2020 Olympic gold medallist became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours in 2019, in an event that didn’t qualify for a record.

Kipchoge, 38, has vowed to collect a six-star medal before he retires, but Sydney hopes to lure the Kenyan to Australia even before it becomes an extra point on the medal, with an appearance in 2024. Kipchoge running in Sydney would give the race a major boost of global credibility, and be a big help in meeting the targets for finisher and crowd numbers, too.

“He would definitely bring Sydneysiders out. He is like Usain Bolt on a track - when Bolt ran, the stands were full,” Larden said.

“We are talking to Kipchoge’s management and have been since we got nominated. He wants to finish the six next year, so our goal is to try and get him to Sydney in 2024, as that big drawcard.”

Moneghetti said having Kipchoge run across the Harbour Bridge in 2024 would be a massive coup: “To say you ran in a race when Kipchoge ran, that’s a selling point. That’d be huge.”

Running machine Stewart McSweyn is eyeing Tokyo Olympics glory after becoming the first man in more than two decades to win a hat-trick of Zatopek 10,000m titles.

The 24-year-old Tasmanian broke a national record that had stood for eight years in Melbourne on Saturday night, powering through the final lap on his own before saluting the crowd with three raised fingers as he crossed the line in 27 minutes and 23.80 seconds.

His time was more than one second faster than Ben St Lawrence's previous Australian-best mark of 27:24:95, set in 2011.

McSweyn also capped his massive year on a personal level by shaving more than 27 seconds off his own personal best time and cracking the Olympic qualifying standard in the process.

The versatile and rangy Kind Islander has also qualified for the 1500m and 5000m at Tokyo 2020 and now faces a big decision about which events he will contest.

"I'm kind of leaving it all open," McSweyn said.

"I'm just going to wait and see what I think is my best chance because I was in the (5000m) final in Doha (at the 2019 World Athletics Championships) and I want to go further than that next year.

"I want to try and be the guy who competes for medals."

Training partners Brett Robinson and Jordan Williamsz set the pace for McSweyn early and he had Queensland's Patrick Tiernan for company until the final lap, when he kicked into another gear and left his rival behind.

"To run that fast was probably a bit of a surprise but I think we owe a lot to Pat Tiernan for setting up that race," McSweyn said.

"What he was able to do after the pacemakers dropped out was pretty amazing.

"I know I was hurting the last 10 minutes and I was hanging on for dear life, so I think half the credit definitely goes to Pat for his run."

McSweyn is now within reach of matching Australian legend Steve Moneghetti's record of four consecutive Zatopek titles, claimed from 1989-92.

Earlier, dual Olympian Genevieve Gregson revealed she would target a spot in the 10,000m event at Tokyo after claiming her first Zatopek crown.

The 30-year-old Queenslander has already qualified for the 3000m steeplechase and will attempt to combine the two events.

Gregson won the Zatopek in 32:47:83, ahead of Canada's Andrea Seccafien (32:48.30), and would need to shave almost one minute and 23 seconds off her time to reach the Olympic standard.

"The goal was to win here, get my auto spot and now chase the time," Gregson said.