If he is to attempt a record-equalling fourth victory at the Gold Coast Marathon 2019 on Sunday, Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara will have to overcome an imposing international strike force of runners that has reached Olympic proportions.

Organised by Events Management Queensland, the Gold Coast Marathon takes place this coming weekend, 6th and 7th July, and the event will feature eight races. 

Photo: GCM

These include the titular Gold Coast Marathon, as well as the Wheelchair Marathon, ASICS Half Marathon, Wheelchair 15km, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Gold Coast Airport Fun Run as well as the Garmin 4km Junior Dash and Garmin 2km Junior Dash.

Mungara is the record holder

Having already been crowned champion three times – in 2015, 2016 and 2018, Mungara is also the race record holder with a 2:08:42 hour timing.

And should he win at the 2019 event, this would put him on par with event ambassador Pat Carroll and Margaret Reddan, as the only other runners to have won this race four times.

An elite chasing pack

Lining up alongside Mungara is an elite chasing pack consisting of two Kenyans, two Japanese, an American, a New Zealander and an Aussie, all with podium credentials. All have the punching power to possibly dethrone Mungara and write their names into the marathon story on the Gold Coast.

Additionally, the lure of Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification will also have a strong influence on the race and its strong competition, with many of the elite runners looking to achieve the qualifying marks of 2:11:30 hours for Men and 2:29:30 hours for Women.

Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi and Yuta Shitara

Photo: GCM

For Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi and Yuta Shitara, making the Olympics team is definitely an attraction.

Shitara is not only Japan’s Half Marathon record holder with a time of 1:00:07 hours, but he also recorded his personal best at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon in 2:06:11 hours, setting the then new Japanese national record in that distance at the same time. This record has since been broken at the 2018 Chicago Marathon by Suguru Osaka who ran 2:05:50 hours.

Kawauchi on the other hand, is a regular at the Gold Coast, having staged some great battles with Mungara, and fans will be looking at him once again to take Mungara all the way.

Bernard Lagat from the United States

As well, United States’ Olympic track star Bernard Lagat will be looking to put his name in the Gold Coast record books this Sunday. 

A five-time Olympian and the second fastest 1,5000-metre runner of all time, Lagat has won 13 medals across his Olympic and World Championship career and has now set his sights on representing his country in the Marathon distance.

Lagat ran 2:17:20 hours in his Marathon debut at the New York Marathon last November and he is looking to the Gold Coast to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

Zane Robertson from New Zealand 

And closer to the Oceania region, New Zealand’s Zane Robertson is also looking at winning the Marathon. Now aged 29, the Kenyan-based Kiwi said, “First and foremost, I always target the win. I want to run as fast as the pacemakers allow and once they step off the road, anything can be possible.”

Women’s Marathon

Photo: Runners’ Tribe

In the Women’s Marathon, Milly Clark from Tasmania is looking at the Marathon to send her to Tokyo 2020. After recovering from foot fractures for the past 18 months, she is quietly hoping for a podium, personal best and an Olympic qualifier.

Said Clark, “This race is pretty significant in that I just want to test where I am at. I want to be back in the hunt and know what it is like to run that 42.195km. It would be good to get a podium finish and that is what I will be aiming to do.”

Mercy Kibarus from Kenya

Photo: Zimbio

However her biggest competition will be from Kenya, in the form of four runners led by Mercy Kibarus, who placed second at the event in 2017. 

Kibarus has a personal best of 2:26:52 hours and she also won the 2018 Sydney Marathon too. So this means she will be no stranger to running well after traveling in from Kenya.

Additionally, there are also other Japanese, Ethiopian and Mongolian women who are in the hunt with personal best timings of between 2:27 hours to 2:33 hours, meaning that we will be in for a very open race with anyone’s guess at who will finish on top of the podium. So this means that we can only wait and see.