Long-distance king back to take on runners going for Gold
Fit again, Andy Buchanan will line up in his first major race in more than a year – enough time for plenty to have changed in the marathon world.
Andy Buchanan hasn’t enjoyed watching from the sidelines as Australian rivals hunted his national marathon record.
They haven’t caught him yet, but after almost a year between races the Olympian will return to the start line among an expanding pack jostling for a Games berth in Los Angeles.
The 35-year-old will go head-to-head with old foe Brett Robinson in Saturday’s Gold Coast half marathon, then lace them up in Sydney’s marathon – now one of the world’s seven majors – on August 30.
Buchanan broke Robinson’s marathon mark when he clocked two hours, six minutes and 22 seconds in Valencia almost two years ago.
He felt he could go faster again last year, but a stress reaction in his femur – the longest and strongest bone in the human body, running from the hip to the knee – scuppered those plans.
Buchanan missed Valencia, as well as Tokyo’s world championships and the Boston marathon, to rehabilitate the precarious bone injury.
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“It was pretty frustrating … to have three marathons that I’d pencilled in, and then not to make the start line of any of them was a pretty rough time,” he said.
“There was a few guys there who were actively trying to break my record, which is hard when you’re sitting at home and you have absolutely no control.”
Buchanan and Robinson have won the past four Gold Coast half marathon titles between them and a victory for either would make them the first three-time champion in the race’s history.
Robinson’s late withdrawal allowed Buchanan an 11th-hour start at the Paris Olympics, where he raced alongside Liam Adams and Pat Tiernan.
Haftu Strintzos, who will run in Sunday’s full marathon, has since announced himself with a stunning 1:00:41 in May to take the national all-comers record from Buchanan and leave the domestic field targeting sub-61-minute performances on home soil.
Jack Rayner ran 59:53 in Barcelona this year to set the national record.
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And the bar’s been raised globally over the marathon distance after Kenyan Sabastian Sawe set a world record (1:59:30) in London this year.
Buchanan forecasts a tense fight for Olympic selection, much like Australia’s women faced in Paris, and thinks he’ll have to break his own record to guarantee a Games return.
“Who knows who those three will be in LA; there’s a lot of young, promising talent coming up,” he said.
“It’s funny; I’m pretty good friends with a lot of these guys, yet they’re my competitors.
“We’ll see what races everyone decides to do, and it’d be really cool if we can all go to the same ones and have a bit of a head-to-head.”
But, admitting he probably got ahead of himself last year, Buchanan insists he’s left his race plans beyond Sydney to his coach and manager.
“Just so that I don’t get too carried away,” he said.
“But I think by the end of the year the Olympic qualification will be open, so (after Sydney) my next marathon is where I can try and run the Olympic qualifier and give that PB a pretty big nudge.
“I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement.”
The women’s half marathon field is also stacked, with national record-holder Izzi Batt-Doyle (1:07:17) and fellow Olympians Sinead Diver, Eloise Wellings and Gen Gregson headlining.
Kenyan stars Elisha Rotich (2:04:21) and Antonina Kwambai (2:23:20) are the runners to beat in the men’s and women’s marathons on Sunday.
More than 42,000 competitors, from 60 countries, sold out every distance category within hours of entries opening ahead of the 46th edition of the running festival.
-with AAP
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