Australia’s top runners are preparing for a return to racing in Sydney’s CBD, with The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon to be held this Sunday, 15 May.
Former winners and Olympic representatives headline the field that will take on the 21.1km course, with the event returning to the streets of Sydney for the first time since 2019.
The women’s field features the likes of two-time winner and dual Olympian Eloise Wellings, recent Sydney 10km second place finisher Leanne Pompeani, the result made her the second fastest Australian woman ever over 10km on home soil, 5000m World Championship qualifier Calli Thackery and 2022 Canberra Marathon winner Marnie Ponton.
Wellings is looking forward to the event returning this weekend, with the last two editions of The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon being cancelled due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.
“I’m so excited, it's been a long time coming for all runners really, but especially when it's your profession,” said Wellings. “It's really exciting to have road racing back on the schedule and especially to have The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, it's my hometown, it brings a massive buzz to the city and I just love this race.
“It's one of my favourite events, it does feel like it's in my backyard and I know so many other athletes. So many of my friends run it, one of my best friend's Rosie is running it and she's hoping to break two hours one day for the event,” she said. “There are friends that would call themselves hobby joggers, or there's running enthusiasts and then there's my elite athlete friends who are running as well so I just love the community aspect of this event. Also just having the opportunity to run around our stunning city.”
COVID has meant that there has only been limited opportunities to take part in large events like The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon over the last two years and Wellings is keen to put her training into action on Sunday.
“I had a baby two years ago so I've been coming back from having my son and so it's all been about building up and getting stronger and laying down consistent training,” she said. “I had a go at the Tokyo Olympics last year and missed out on that but then I moved up to the marathon, and have run three really strong marathons, and now I'm just really excited about going longer and hoping to be selected in my sixth Commonwealth Games team this year for the marathon event.
“My training in the last couple of months especially has been going really well, feeling really strong and this will be a really good hit out in the lead up to Comm Games,” she said. “It's just a really good addition to my build up towards the Commonwealth Games, hard half marathon races are a really good test of fitness and seeing where I'm at, so this race in Sydney will be really good for that.”
Wellings stood on the top step of the podium at the event in 2015 and 2018 and would love to add a third title to her running resume.
“It would mean a lot. I've won it twice now and winning it a third time would be amazing,” she said. “I remember the first time I won it my daughter was waiting for me at the finish line and that was really special. I have really special memories from this event, so really looking forward to it and just going to go through the process of doing my best.”
The men’s race will also be one to watch, with the line-up including four-time winner and two-time Olympian Liam Adams, 2018 winner Joel Tobin-White, Matthew Cox and rising stars Tim Vincent and Liam Boudin.
Joel Tobin-White is excited about the opportunity to race again at the event where he has had much success.
“The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon was my first big road race win of my running career back in 2018,” said Tobin-White. “I finished second in 2019 and obviously due to COVID I haven't been able to race it since. I'm super excited that it's back on the race calendar and although it's a tough course, it's one of the most picturesque events on the Aussie calendar.
“One of the most memorable features of this unique race is that the course doubles back on itself at certain points. There is one place in particular where we come past the thousands of runners heading in the opposite direction,” he said. “Every year they scream and cheer for the lead pack and it always gives me a boost, unfortunately I'm usually too focused or in too much pain to reciprocate with the cheering. We do a lot of road races on quiet roads, and they can get boring pretty fast, the beauty of The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon is that it's through the streets of the CBD so the atmosphere is always high.”
Tobin-White has had a mixed preparation but is looking forward to taking on some of the top runners in the country on Sunday.
“At the tail end of the Australian Track season I was battling a nasty case of bursitis in my knee so I wasn't able to end the season on the high I wanted,” he said. “I took some time off and thankfully have been able to train pain-free the past few weeks. I'm still a fair way off my peak form but I wouldn't be racing this weekend if I thought I was in no shape to race well. It's my first road race of the winter season so I plan to have a good hit out to test my fitness.”
The 21.1km The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon starts on Macquarie Street, adjacent to Martin Place, with runners working their way through the Sydney CBD, along the harbour foreshore, taking a loop through Pyrmont before heading past Barangaroo and into the Royal Botanic Gardens, before finishing on Park Street at Hyde Park.
Full Seeded Start List:
Female
Eloise Wellings
Leanne Pompeani
Marnie Ponton
Calli Thackery
Aleisha Wawn
Imy Briscoe
Marina Wong
Katie Mahoney
Lexy Gilmour
Abigail Nordberg
Male
Liam Adams
Joel Tobin-White
Tim Vincent
Matthew Cox
Liam Boudin
Rory Darkins
Sam Hopper
Matthew Gibson
Neil Pearson
Joel Wooldridge
Trent Dawson
Samuel Shiell
Nick Jamnick
Nicholas Hanna
Benjamin Jagger
Brendon Fehon
Aston Duncan
Tim Broxup
Patrick Stow
Thomas Middleton
Leo Peterson
Otto Khoo
Samuel Jones
Russell Dessaix-Chin
Kurt Fryer
