Two Aussies who have known podium action at a Gold Coast Half Marathon will have to repel a determined Japanese offensive to stand on the top step for the first time in 2024.

Sydney’s Ed Goddard (1:02:16 PB) finished second behind back-to-back champion Brett Robinson in 2022 while Brisbane’s Tim Vincent (1:02:01 PB) finished third.

After competing in last year’s full distance Gold Coast Marathon both have dialed the distance back and will be as keen as each other to take a shifting spanner to Kenyan Benson Masya’s rusted on 1:01:16 Gold Coast 21.1km race record from 1992.

But standing in their way on Saturday 6 July will be a band of Japanese challengers just as keen to regain the title for their nation for the first time since Hiroki Yamagishi’s 2017 victory.

Leading the charge will be the quartet of Shunsuke Shikama, Koki Kamata, Soushi Suzuki and Daisuke Doi who ominously all ran below Gold Coast race record pace at Yamaguchi, Japan in February this year.

Shikama took the win in 1:00:41 with his three compatriots all finishing within 10 seconds of the 23-year-old to throw down a national group challenge of sorts for this race.

Three of the four are 10,000m and half marathon specialists with Doi the exception spending his time between half marathon and full distance, most recently racking up fifth place at the 2024 Osaka Marathon.

Compatriots Haruki Abe (1:02:05), Kenya Sonota (1:02:20) and Naoya Sakuda (1:02:22) also have decent times over the distance, but only 31-year-old Sonata has tasted top level success, albeit nine years ago at Japan’s 2015 Ageo Half Marathon.

Also, in the mix is 2010 4km Junior Dash winner, South Australia’s Riley Cocks, who has spent most of his time over the past few years competing over the marathon and half distances.

The now 28-year-old finished 13^th in last year’s Gold Coast full distance race but brings a competitive half marathon PB of 1:02:43 into this effort after a solid run at Japan’s 2023 Marugame Half Marathon.

Another Australian to keep an eye on is Andy Buchanan, the seventh fastest of only nine Australian men to have run under 2:10 in a full distance marathon, a feat he achieved at the Hamburg Marathon in May this year.

The 33-year-old 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games marathoner and 10,000m specialist has proved himself agile to most distances and brings a 1:02:50 PB into this race from his win in the Tachikawa (Japan) Half Marathon in 2019.

New Zealand will be represented on the front row by 2023 third placegetter Cameron Avery who ran 1:02:50 in that race and who will be out to stand two steps higher on the podium in an event that doubles as the Oceania Half Marathon Championships.

And in a further boost to the field, the hugely popular 2022 Gold Coast Marathon full distance champion, Japan’s Jo Fukuda, will line up to take his chances over the shorter journey, odds on to line up with his trademark dyed blue hair.

Fukuda’s front row appearance is by virtue of a 1:02:25 PB run at the Marugame Half Marathon in 2019, a form he’ll need to revisit and a time he’ll need to reset if his name is to appear on the honour boards of the two Gold Coast longest distance races.

It’s a feat only achieved by four men in the past in three-time Olympian and 2006 Gold Coast Marathon champion Lee Troop, four-time Gold Coast Marathon winner Pat Carroll, two-time Gold Coast Marathon victor Tanzanian Dickson Marwa and another legendary Aussie Andrew Lloyd who all bagged one half marathon here each.

ASICS Gold Coast Marathon, Half Marathon and Southern Cross University 10km Run are currently at capacity. There is still an opportunity to be a part of the action and enter the CPL Wheelchair Marathon and 10km Wheelchair event, the Gold Coast Airport 5km, the Gold Coast Bulletin 2km or 4km Junior Dash or the Wheelchair 4km race.

Events Management Queensland proudly delivers the annual Gold Coast Marathon presented by ASICS, Toowoomba Marathon presented by Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and the biennial Pan Pacific Masters Games and is proudly supported by Experience Gold Coast and the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.

Events Management Queensland acknowledges and pays respect to the Kombumerri people of the Yugambeh language region, the Saltwater People of the Gold Coast, as the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which we invite and welcome participants from across the globe to experience our events.

Elite Half Marathoners – Men

Shunsuke Shikama (JPN) 1:00:41 (Yamaguchi, 2024)

Koki Kamata (JPN) 1:00:47 (Yamaguchi, 2024)

Soushi Suzuki (JPN) 1:00:49 (Yamaguchi, 2024)

Daisuke Doi (JPN) 1:00:51 (Yamaguchi, 2024)

Tim Vincent (AUS) 1:02:01 (Marugame, 2024)

Haruki Abe (JPN) 1:02:05 (Marugame, 2023)

Ed Goddard (AUS) 1:02:16 (Launceston, 2020)

Kenya Sonota (JPN) 1:02:20 (Tachikawa, 2015)

Naoya Sakuda (JPN) 1:02:22 (Gifu, 2022)

Jo Fukuda (JPN) 1:02:25 (Marugame, 2019)

Riley Cocks (AUS) 1:02:43(Marugame, 2023)

Rei Yamahira (JPN) 1:02:48 (Setagaya, 2022)

Andrew Buchanan (AUS) 1:02:50 (Tachikawa, 2019)

Cameron Avery (NZL) 1:02:50 (Gold Coast, 2023)

Seth O’Donnell (AUS) 1:03:40 (Gold Coast, 2023)