The 2022 Southern Cross University 10km Run presents a typically open field of runners hungry to make their impression on one of Australia’s premier 10km road running events.

Such is the sprint-like dynamic of the distance that any of the top ranked men or women could find themselves in the 2022 winner’s circle.

Likely leading the men out will be Jordan Gusman, the 2018 champion and 28:42 record holder for the event.

He’s also a top 1500 metre runner and one of the few athletes in the country who has run the four-minute mile.

Not far behind will be 27-year-old 5km and 10km specialist Queenslander Jack Bruce who will make sure the Malta-born Jordan doesn’t have things all his own way.

They’ll run alongside a handful of runners with sub-30-minute credentials, including Victorian flyer Jordan Williamz, Arron Spiessberger-Parker from the ACT and South Australian duo Max Stevens and Issac Heyne.

In the women’s event, two-time winner Leanne Pompeani (ACT) returns as the top seed, but South Australia’s Caitlin Adams will challenge.

Catilin was third in the 2018 Southern Cross University 10km Run before going on to place fourth in the 2019 Zatopek classic and represent Australia at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Denmark.

Another in with a red-hot chance is Sarah Klein.

Sarah, who represented Australia in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 Beijing World Athletics Championships, is someone who knows the course and the distance well after a breakthrough victory in the 2008 Southern Cross University 10km Run and plenty of subsequent Gold Coast appearances since.

New South Wales’ Paige Campbell is another with impressive international credentials having competed at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships and the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.She comes into the race after winning the 5000m Oceania Championships in Mackay three weeks ago.

Others to consider include Queenslander Olga Firsova, Jess Noble (NSW) and Sinead Noonan from Western Australia.

To underline the quality of the field, there are ten women running the 2022 Southern Cross University 10km Run who have run sub-34:00 minutes for 10km previously.