Rayner proves himself a serious competitor

HE was “young and a bit silly” when he tackled his first half marathon but Jack Rayner made a statement yesterday in his first “real” tilt over the distance, winning the Gold Coast 21.1km to stamp himself as one of Australia’s premier distance runners.

Rayner broke the tape in 1hr 3min 12sec to beat Kenya’s William Chebor (1:03.28), world university cross country representative Ed Goddard (1:04.06) and training partner Collis Birmingham (1:04.27).

“It was a great field, all of the best Australian distance runners were in it today,” Rayner said. “It’s only my second ever half marathon and I’d say my first proper one because I did one when I was 18 and a bit young and a bit silly.”

Still a track specialist, Rayner is likely to stick to the 5000m and 10,000m for the next couple of years as he bids to make next year’s world championship team under the guidance of Melbourne master coach Nic Bideau.

“But in the future, I’m definitely looking forward to doing marathons and when I’m older,” he said.

While he missed the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark in the 5000m by about 15sec – “so a fair bit” – the 22year-old has his sights on improving enough to make next year’s world championships as a stepping stone to the Tokyo Games.

“The goal for next year is the 5km at the world champs. It’s in Doha next year, so it’d be absolutely great to go there.” half marathons, a little bit