Former triathlete makes impressive marathon debut

OLYMPIAN Brad Kahlefeldt has made an impressive marathon debut, finishing 33rd overall on the Gold Coast in a performance that could signal the start of a new obsession.

The former Gold Coast resident retired from the professional triathlon circuit earlier this year, ending a 20year career that included Olympic representation, Commonwealth Games gold and three-time world championship medallist.

And while he had completed a sub three-hour marathon as part of an ironman triathlon, Kahlefeldt had never tackled the 42.2km as a standalone race until yesterday, where he finished in 2hr 27min 34sec.

“I’ve got a baby now with my wife (professional triathlete) Radka, and it’s all going great, so I just thought I’d keep fit and run,” he said.

Kahlefeldt has not done anything special by completing the course though.

“All my family are runners, mum and dad have done 40 marathons each and I’ve got two brothers out there at the moment competing (in the marathon).

“Mum was doing the half, my sister the half and dad was out there as well, so it was a whole family affair.”

Despite his family history and his own extensive training, Kahlefeldt was unprepared for the pain of a maximum effort marathon.

“I’ve done 2:49 in Melbourne,” he said of his best marathon split during a gruelling ironman triathlon where the 42.2km run comes after a 3.8km swim and 180km cycle.

“Obviously you’re fresh but it still hurts a lot. I kind of expected it to hurt but after 30km, it’s that conditioning you need from training.

“So you learn from that and hopefully I’ll come back and go better. I don’t have a lot of experience with the marathons and I’m just getting used to them but I really like the pain in a sick way.”

While he loves the training and competition, Kahlefeldt is not about to dive into full-time training. “I’m not going to be too serious because I had 20 years as a pro triathlete,” he said. “I dedicated my whole life to being one of the best in the world and now it’s for fun and a hobby and to keep me fit and healthy. I’d love to get my time down to the early 2:20s and I’d be pretty happy with that.”