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Lee Troop to finish Australian running career on the Gold Coast

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2006 Gold Coast Airport Marathon winner, 2014 event ambassador, sub-2:10 marathoner, three-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games representative Lee Troop will bring down the curtain on one of the most celebrated and decorated Australian marathon careers at this year’s Gold Coast Airport Marathon on Sunday 6 July.

Troop will finish on a sentimental note by representing his home state of Victoria in the marathon one last time with the Gold Coast Airport Marathon doubling as the Australian Marathon Championships for the first time since 2006 which also happened to be the last time Troop took the national title on the Gold Coast.

The 41-year-old said a culmination of events last year prompted him to make the tough decision and promise the Gold Coast Airport Marathon organisers that his final Australian marathon would be on the Gold Coast in 2014.

“Last year was a big year for me. I was at the Boston Marathon during the bombings and I was deeply affected by the traumatic situation that engulfed the entire running community,” said Troop.

“The memory of the bombings played on me for a number of months and I thought a trip back to Australia for four to five weeks would reinvigorate me but I struggled.

“While in Australia I ran the ASICS Half Marathon on the Gold Coast and things didn’t really click. I tripped while in the elite pack which set off my left hip which has given me grief for the majority of my career. It clamped on my hamstring from the 18 kilometre mark and I shuffled home.

“At that point, I decided that I had enough. I approached race CEO Cameron Hart and told him I would retire from competitive racing in 2014 but promised my last Australian race would be at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon.”

The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has played a significant role in Troop’s career since his half marathon win in 2004 in preparation for the Athens Olympic Games. It was followed by a marathon win in 2006 which laid the platform for his third Olympic Games in Beijing and three years later he claimed the 10km title.

Troop believes the Gold Coast Airport Marathon gained momentum as a world-class road race in 2006 driven by the vision of CEO Cameron Hart, Chairman Kerry Watson and Queensland running legend Pat Carroll which saw the only five Australian marathoners who had run sub-2:10, Rob de Castella, Derek Clayton, Steve Moneghetti, Pat Carroll and himself come together to support the event.

“The Gold Coast Airport Marathon ignited from the 2006 event onwards. The work of Kerry Watson and Cameron Hart and their mission and goal leading to 2007 and onwards was fantastic,” Troop said.

“With the assistance of myself and the other ambassadors to work as closely as we could with the organisers to help make this event as big as possible culminated, I believe, to the gold label race it is today.

“One of the main reasons I wanted to finish off my Australian marathon career here is so I could proudly represent the organising committee and all the people that have supported me over the past 30 years one last time.”

Troop took up running at the age of 11 and joined Geelong club Athletics Chilwell in 1986. Since then he has accumulated a significant number of career highlights but admits his favourite to date was breaking Ron Clarke’s 33-year-old national record in the 5000m in 1999.

“It took me a number of years afterwards to truly appreciate the full magnitude of what I had done in beating his record,” Troop said.

“When I did it, I was very young and I was only focused on running fast. But now I look back and remind myself that the record hadn’t been broken for such a long time and I truly respect that moment for what it was.”

Troop’s short-term future is focused on running well at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon followed by his last ever marathon at the New York City Marathon in November. After that, Troop says his attention will be on his training group at home in Boulder, Colorado.

“I’m currently training two elite athletes in the USA who have the goal of reaching the 2016 Olympic Games and I promised them that I would see out that journey with them,” Troop said.

“After 2016, I plan to sit down with my wife and plan the next phase of our journey.

“I’ve got three kids and I’m really looking forward to spending more time with them doing little things such as taking them out to sport on weekends instead of having them worry about where Dad is flying off to compete in his next race.”

Lee Troop Profile

DOB     22 March 1973
Born    
Geelong, Victoria (AUS)
Lives    
Boulder, Colorado (USA)
Club     Athletics Chilwell

Career Highlights

  • Representing Australia in the marathon at the 2000, 2004, 2008 Olympic Games
  • Representing Australia in the 5000m and 10000m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
  • Breaking Ron Clarke’s 33-year-old national 5000m record in 1999 with 13:14.82
  • Becoming one of only five Australian marathoners to run sub-2:10 when he clocked 2:09:49 at Lake Biwa Marathon in 2003
  • Winning the 2006 Gold Coast Airport Marathon, 2004 ASICS Half Marathon and 2009 Southern Cross University 10km Run
  • 2006 Australian Marathon Champion

Olympic Games

Year Distance Time Place
2000 Marathon 2:29:32 66th
2004 Marathon 2:18:46 28th
2008 Marathon 2:27:17 60th

 Commonwealth Games

Year Distance Time Place
1998 5,000m 13:56 6th
1998 10,000m 29:34 7th
2002 Marathon 2:16:44 7th

 World Championships

Year Distance Time Place
1997 Half Marathon 1:03:43 58th
1999 5,000m 13:42 Heat 2 – 12th
2003 Marathon 2:11:46 17th

 World Cross Country Championships

Year Distance Time Place
1996 12,150m 36:27 66th
1998 12,000m 36:46 60th
1999 12,000m 42:06 41st
2001 12,300m 41:18 25th
2004 12,000m 37:43 21st

 National Championships

Year Distance Time Place
1996-97 5,000m 13:36 3rd (2nd AUS)
1996-97 10,000m 29:16 2nd
1997 Half Marathon 1:03:17 1st
1997-98 5,000m 13:41 3rd
1997-98 10,000m 28:08 4th (1st AUS)
1998-99 5,000m 13:42 4th (2nd AUS)
1998-99 10,000m 28:04 3rd (1st AUS)
2000 Marathon 2:18:50 3rd
2003-04 10,000m 28:32 1st
2006 Marathon 2:14:13 1st
2006-07 10,000m 28:53 3rd (1st AUS)
2007 Half Marathon 1:04:34 3rd
2011 Half Marathon 1:07:15 1st

 National Cross Country Championships

Year Distance Time Place
1997 12km 37:45 2nd
1998 12km 36:22 2nd
2000 12km 36:22 1st
2006 12km 36:36 1st

 Marathon Career

Year Race Time
1999 London 2:11:21
2000 Sydney 2:29:32
2001 Rotterdam 2:10:04
2003 Otsu 2:09:49 (PB)
2004 London 2:09:58
2006 Gold Coast 2:14:13
2007 Berlin 2:10:31
2008 Beijing 2:27:17
2011 Gold Coast 2:15:45
2013 Boston 2:17:52

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