Records fall as biggest 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 after 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.
Both winning times lowered the all-comers records for marathons run in Australia. Gurmesa’s time for the 42.195km race was fastest the previous best time ever run by a woman in Australia, which was set by Japan’s Naoko Takahashi (2:23:14) in winning the Sydney Olympic marathon in 2000.
Misoi lowered the record of Moses Kibet’s (2:07:03), run in the men’s Sydney marathon in 2022.
The sun rising at the start of the Sydney MarathonCredit: Edwina Pickles
De Rozario dominated in the women’s wheelchair race yet again, cruising to back-to-back victories in a time of 01:54:09.
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.
“It was unbelievable, the amount of people that were there in the last 10 kilometres of that race, as soon as you get into Centennial Park, it was unreal,” de Rozario said.
Canadian Josh Cassidy also defended his Sydney marathon title in the men’s wheelchair category, winning in 1:38:35.
Runners cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Credit: Edwina Pickles
With another 15,000 runners doing shorter events as well, a total of 40,000 runners were in action on Sunday morning.
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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