Champ locks in defence
GOLD Coast half-marathon winner Hiroki Yamagishi has already declared his desire to return in 2018 to defend his title.
The Japanese runner smashed the field yesterday to win in a time of 1:03.14hr in his maiden appearance at the event, 35 seconds ahead of Australian and Rio Olympian Liam Adams who finished second.
Yamagishi only decided to enter the race to support some of his training partners, who took part in the full marathon on the same day, but after taking the lead at the 10km mark he went on to get within 20 seconds of his personal best.
“I don’t have many opportunities to race outside of Japan so coming overseas to the Gold Coast I wanted to run a good race, not just for the win but for my future development,” Yamagishi said.
“I thought about (going for a personal best).
“The conditions were good and I thought if it works out I’d like to run a PB here but the second half was a little hard. I got on my own and it was hard to keep it going.
“There is a big marathon in Japan in August and some of my training partners are doing that.
“One of them was doing the marathon here so I decided to come along.”
Yamagishi said he was already thinking about returning next year to race for backto-back wins.
“If I have the chance to come back and go for it again I will,” Yamagishi said.
“I can definitely go back to Japan feeling confident with the win here.”
Adams, who finished 31st in the marathon at last year’s Rio Olympic Games and 2012 winner of the Gold Coast half-marathon, said he was disappointed with the race after coming off injury and the first major break of his career.
“I probably went out a bit too quick and felt it after halfway mark,” Adams said.
“I felt the pinch and really struggled. The time was quite disappointing. I know I’m not in great shape but I still thought I’d run a PB or beat my PB (1:03.28).”
The 30-year-old Melbourne resident hurt his ankle during his Rio campaign and said he had struggled with fitness and motivation since.
“I had a few months off after the Olympics and it’s the first time I have had time away from the sport,” Adams said.
“I’ve really struggled getting back into it. I think it was a combination of Olympic hangover and just the injury. Motivation and fitness has been really zapped and I really struggled to get back.”
Adams said the Gold Coast race was the biggest since he has returned to running and hoped that it was the boost he needed to get back to his best in the lead up to next year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Adams has yet to qualify for the Games.
“I’m hoping this race gets me back into gear,” Adams said.
“I know where I’m at so hopefully that gives me a bit more motivation to train harder and work towards a marathon and qualifying for the Commonwealth Games.”