Last week I was standing in the queue at Aldi, doomscrolling on socials whilst I waited to pay for dog ice creams when, amongst the spamming of special offers and booking confirmations, an email popped up, “2025 Asics Gold Coast Marathon Ballot”.

“Ballot entry successful”.

What? Oh crap!

Earlier in the year whilst planning my post Tarawera 2025 race calendar, I looked an the possibility of running a road marathon. I’d heard a few people mention on podcasts that athletes like Rachel Drake had used a speedy, road marathon training block in the lead up to a key race. For Rachel it was a ridiculous time at CIM (California International Marathon) leading into a Golden Ticket at Black Canyon and a top 10 finish at Western States (read about it here, and follow her and husband Tyler on Youtube, yes she’s also a mum and a doctor!)

Now I didn’t think I was about to bust out an Olympic Qualifier but I figured a decent block could go a long way at a race like Surf Coast Century 100k, which is very flat and runnable for a 100k.

I triaged it with my coach and we decided that Gold Coast would be a good option, if I could get in. Since the pandemic, road running has seen a massive boom and all the races are sold out without weeks, if not days, of opening registrations. I was not that organised, so we made so with what was available.

So when the post came up they Gold Coast were running a ballot for spare entries, I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. I never thought I would get drawn.

I have quite a history with the Gold Coast Marathon.

I’ve run the full three times (2014, 2016, 2017) and the half twice (2018 and 2019).

The 2014 edition was my first ever marathon. Whilst it hurt and my pacing sucked, I finished it in 4:09 and change.

I went back in 2016 to try again. I took three minutes off, finishing in 4:06. When you compare the two races on Garmin Connect, they look basically identical (the blue is 2014, the red is 2016). I was still not training consistently or with any purpose.

In 2017, we went back again. We signed up for the marathon and decided to bring our families to the Gold Coast and get married on the Thursday before the race, as you do. We ran the marathon together, side by side. I still reckon they build a statue of a running couple on Mermaid Beach in our honour.

Since then I’ve ran the half marathon twice, but I haven’t been back since the pandemic. I tried to do the virtual event but I’ve been focused on the trails ever since.

I’m surprisingly excited to go back and see what I can do 10 years later.

My Garmin race predictor says 3:45:23

Considering I have 10 years more training under my belt plus the benefit of super shoes, heat training, fueling etc, surely if I’m ever going to have a real chance at the sub 4 hours, it’s now.