Records fall as biggest ever Sydney marathon is run
Kenyan athlete Brimin Misoi and Ethiopian star Workenesh Gurmesa ran the fastest ever marathons in Australia, and Australian Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario defended her title, as tens of thousands of runners braved the Sydney marathon on Sunday morning.
A record field of 25,000 runners hit the streets from 6am, and after starting at North Sydney Oval, crossed Sydney Harbour Bridge and then wound through the city and eastern suburbs before finishing at the Opera House.
The skies were clear but in contrast to high temperatures last year, the hilly course was made just a little tougher by strong winds and a chilly start.
It didn’t stop elite runners from burning up the revised course, however, with the men’s and women’s races both won in record times.
After making his push away from the leading pack at the 30km mark, Misoi claimed the men’s event in 2:06:17, and Gurmesa was too strong in a high-quality women’s race in 2:21:40.
Kenyan winner Brimin Misoi crossing the line.
Both winning times lowered the all-comers records for marathons run in Australia. Gurmesa’s time for the 42.195km race was faster than the previous best time ever run by a woman in Australia, set by Japan’s Naoko Takahashi (2:23:14) in winning the Sydney Olympic marathon in 2000.
“I am so excited - it’s a big thing for me, winning in Sydney is a big thing for me,” Gurmesa said.
Misoi, who is a cattle farmer when not training for marathons, lowered the record of Moses Kibet (2:07:03), run in the men’s Sydney marathon in 2022.
“It was very hard conditions today and I’m very proud of today’s victory,” Misoi said.
“It was very good because it was a hard course. I didn’t expect to win today because it was my first time. It was a fast time. I didn’t expect to win but everything was perfect and it was good.”
De Rozario dominated in the women’s wheelchair race yet again, cruising to back-to-back victories in a time of 01:54:09.
Female wheelchair champion Madison de Rozario crossing the line.
Remarkably, it was de Rozario’s second marathon in seven days, after the 30-year-old won silver in the Paralympics in Paris last weekend.
“I am exhausted - it’s been a really big week,” de Rozario said.
“I’ve done back-to-back marathons before [and] six months ago when I committed to doing the double, that was sort of what was in my mind. I didn’t really factor in how exhausting an entire competition is going to be.
“It’s not just the racing, it’s the mental fatigue and the emotional fatigue of all of that.
“So the last couple of days trying to mentally get back into the mindset to race was a bit challenging. But it went really well, so I’m really happy.
“These are about 42 of the hardest kilometres that any of us will ever do. The distance itself doesn’t normally level me, but this specific marathon does. It’s a really challenging course that Sydney has, but it’s incredible.”
The sun rising at the start of the Sydney MarathonCredit: Edwina Pickles
Canadian Josh Cassidy also defended his Sydney marathon title in the men’s wheelchair category, winning in 1:38:35.
With another 15,000 runners doing shorter events as well, a total of 40,000 runners were in action on Sunday morning.
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The Sydney marathon is entering its final year as a candidate to join the six biggest marathons - New York, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London and Chicago - and providing it meets the assessment criteria again on Sunday, a green light is expected in weeks.
One of the main boxes to tick is a minimum field of 15,000 runners, which was achieved with an Australian record field of 17,000 last year.
The new record was set on Sunday with 25,000 runners, which is a giant leap from the once-standard size of 4000-5000 people in the race.
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