Thinking about trying to keep up with Kipchoge in the Sydney Marathon? Bad idea

A bit like the guy who sprints for the first 200 metres of the City to Surf, it’s never been the wisest long-term strategy to try and race on the shoulder of Eliud Kipchoge.

“Especially in a marathon, it’s probably a terrible idea,” Australian marathoner Brett Robinson says. “Because it’s probably going to be a long day if you get carried away with trying to do something like that.”

As a recent holder of the Australian marathon record, Robinson has more right than most to give it a shot. But even the Tokyo Olympian knows that when it comes to racing against Kipchoge – whose non-ratified PB for marathon is below two hours – the best tip for a young runner with dreams of pacing off the GOAT is to park the ego.

“You have to stick to your race plan, as hard as it is, you might want to get in a good photo with him. But you need to stick to your race plan,” Robinson said. “Or it can end up being a tough race.”

Robinson is one of the elite Australian pack who’ll be leading the local charge against Kipchoge and a field of star athletes in the Sydney marathon on Sunday.

As the first running of the Sydney Marathon as a World Major, the field has not only grown sharply in size, but in quality as well. Even with the world championships around the corner, sixteen male runners who have run under 2:06 will be in the field, including former world record holder Kipchoge and Birhanu Legese, who has the ninth-fastest marathon time in history.

And in the women’s field, Sifan Hassan leads an imposing group of 10 athletes in the Sydney field who have run under 2:20.

It will be the highest quality marathon on these shores since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and all signs points to record times for the fastest marathons in Australia, in both the men’s and women’s races.

“You’d think so, with the field,” Robinson said. “There are some good athletes who have been here in the last few years, but this could be a field to definitely challenge that.”

The men’s all-comers record in Australia was set by the winner of the 2024 Sydney marathon, Kenya’s Brimin Kipkorir, who won in 2:06.18.

The Sydney course is regarded as a tough one, and though it has been flattened out slightly with a re-design, it will still enter the world marathon majors club as the second-hilliest of the seven cities.

With a total elevation gain of 313 metres, it is second only to Boston (370m) and far more than the four – Berlin, Chicago, London and Tokyo – who have less than 50 metres elevation gain.

“It’s not really a PB course,” Robinson said. “There are just some tough parts. If you go to Valencia [in Spain] for example, it’s just dead flat. But in Sydney, you have some hills so it becomes more of a race. It’s more about the place and the result, and not about the time.”

Asked about what sort of time he was expecting on the Sydney course, Kipchoge said: “The course is the course.”

Hassan joked: “Ask me this question after the race.”

The fastest time run by an Australian on home soil is still held by Brad Camp, who ran a 2:10:11 in on the flat Gold Coast course in 1989.

But Robinson believes he is in the sort of shape to give that record a nudge. The 34-year-old broke the Australian record in Fukuoka in 2022 with 2:07:31, but Andy Buchanan lowered with it in Valencia last December with a 2:06:22.

“My training has been great - this is probably the best marathon block I have ever had,” Robinson said. “Obviously, this course is a little bit different. The No.1 goal is to win the Australian race, but secondly I want to finish as high as I can in the overall race.

“There a bunch of good athletes here. I think they are going to go a pretty quick pace which will probably mean some blow ups coming, and hopefully, I am coming through strong and finishing high up. I am definitely hoping to go under 2:10, maybe 2:07 or 2:08.

Jess Stenson, who is Australia’s No.1 ranked female marathoner after running a PB 2:22:56 in Tokyo in March, believes the women’s record for fastest marathon in Australia will fall as well.

Last year’s winner in Sydney – Ethiopian Workenesh Edesa – set the record with 2:21:41. Stenson holds the local record for fastest run in Australia with a 2:25:15 in Perth in 2021.

“The weather is looking pretty good, and with the calibre of athletes that have come for this race, the pace will be on, and I don’t think it’ll be really tactical and slow,” she said.

“I think it will be pretty honest early on and there’s a good chance the all-comers record will go down.”