FNQ junior athletes to tackle world record

Two separate elite FNQ running squads will come together on Monday afternoon with an aim of breaking a world record, of sorts.

ON YOUR MARKS: Grace Campbell, 10, Jorja Catelan, 14, Toby Gillen 19, Eryn Vicary, 17, and Lili Boyd, 18, will all participate in the 400m relays held over 105 laps at Barlow Park this afternoon in an attempt to better Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record. Picture: BRENDAN RADKE.

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Two separate elite FNQ running squads will come together this afternoon with an aim of breaking a world record, of sorts.

Distance running group Pace Running and athlete development squad Aspire will attempt to run a sub two-hour marathon, breaking the event into 105 laps of Barlow Park’s 400m track, plus a final 195m to ensure the full distance.

Pace Running coach Jill Boltz, an Olympian in her younger days, said the club had wanted to attempt the two-hour marathon relay for some time and all athletes would be given the chance to be involved.

Aspire Cairns and Pace Project running squads will mark the easing of COVID-19 restrictions by joining forces on Monday to run a sub 2 hour marathon. Grace Campbell, 10, and Jorja Catelan, 14, will participate in the 400 metre relays held over 105 laps at Barlow Park. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE.

“To break two hours for a marathon each athlete needs to complete 400m in 68 seconds — spread across both squads, we think we can do it.

“It is amazing to think that one person, Eliud Kipchoge, could maintain that pace for the entire 42.195km marathon distance,” Boltz said.

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“It is great that we can join forces with Apsire, the kids all know one another and it is something we can do to help celebrate the easing of restrictions for community sport.

“Both squads have continued training throughout the lockdown and with so many competitions cancelled, they have all shown amazing commitment.”

ON YOUR MARKS: Grace Campbell, 10, Jorja Catelan, 14, Toby Gillen 19, Eryn Vicary, 17, and Lili Boyd, 18, will all participate in the 400m relays held over 105 laps at Barlow Park this afternoon in an attempt to better Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record. Picture: BRENDAN RADKE.

Boltz says Pace and Aspire are on the same page when it comes to training and athlete development. They want the kids to work hard and achieve their goals, but also want them to have fun. “And we think this will be a lot of fun,” Boltz said.

The Pace Running and Aspire sub two-hour marathon relay attempt will start at Barlow Park at 4pm this afternoon.

RUNNING FOR A ‘WORLD RECORD’

THE TASK

The official world record for the marathon is held by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds.

In 2019, Kipchoge recorded an unbelievable time of 1:59:40, however his time is not officially recognised as a world record because it was not run under open marathon conditions and it also featured a dense rotation of professional pacesetters.

THE RESPECTIVE COACHES

• Jill Boltz represented Great Britain at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona

Olympics.

She won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

In 1991, she broke the World Best for 10 miles.

• Brendan Peeters has over 20 years of experience in the sport of track and field, as both a

high level athlete and coach.

Originally published as FNQ junior athletes to tackle world record