Course record by Naoki Koyama at Gold Coast

His 2:07:40 eclipsed the 2:07:50 race record set in 2019 by compatriot Yuta Shitara and was the last of four outright course records reset across the weekend events.

Kenyan Ezekiel Omullo (2:08:26) and Victoria’s Liam Adams took the minor placings with Adams running the fastest marathon ever by an Australian in Australia with his 2:08:39 beating Rob de Castella’s 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games winning time of 2:09:18.

Not only that, he ran it in front of the great man himself who is today an Ambassador for the Gold Coast Marathon powered by Chery.

Meanwhile Kenyans Rodah Tanui (2:27:10) and Ruth Chebitok (2:28:17) went one-two in the women’s race ahead of Queensland Olympic track star and marathon debutant Genevieve Gregson who ran a 2:28:33.

They were the standout performances of the 6722 runners who faced the starter on a perfect Gold Coast morning.

Adams says his running obsession doesn’t come without a cost.

“I’ll be running the Berlin Marathon next, and I spent about AUD10,000 [EUR 6,130] trying to prep for this race because I went [high altitude] training in Flagstaff [Arizona], but I had to dig deep into my savings and I’ve maxed out my annual leave, so it’s back to being a sparkie [electrician] for a while I reckon.

“I don’t think many of those guys on the top 10 list have ever been non funded or not supported so I guess I’m a bit different to them, hey?”

Women’s winner Tanui said she was proud of the Kenyan double after both she and Chebitok had both tasted victory before in 2019 and 2018 respectively. Gold Coast born and bred Gregson’s run comes after a year of highs and lows that included two Achilles operations and the birth of a baby. “To be a Queenslander, born on the Gold Coast, here for my first marathon with my whole family and my baby here, I just can’t describe the feeling,” she said.