Marathon queens hatch plan to curb Kenyan challenge at Gold Coast
MARATHON runners Lisa Weightman and Jess Trengove are planning to help each other combat the inevitable Kenyan challenge at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
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IT’S normally not something associated with Australian marathon teams.
Collusion and team running is a luxury usually only afforded to the African nations but Lisa Weightman and Jess Trengove are planning on changing that at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The Australian pair are in the gold medal frame and plan to help each other combat the inevitable Kenyan challenge in April.
Weightman, who turned 39 on Tuesday, won bronze behind a pair of Kenyans at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and is in career-best form, three years after the birth of son Pete.
Trengove, who took bronze in Glasgow in 2014, showed her class by finishing ninth at last year’s world championships.
They’re a formidable pair and along with less-celebrated countrywoman Virginia Moloney, they intend to jointly fly the flag.
“I imagine it would be wise to speak beforehand, just to feel as if we are working as a team taking on the rest of the Commonwealth,” Trengove said.
“That is certainly how I get the most out of myself ... with the Kenyans, you see them before races and they are huddling and chatting about something.
“We had better do something the same, even if we’re just asking each other what we had for breakfast.”
Weightman pointed to last year’s London Marathon, where they both set personal bests, as an example of how working together can lead to something exciting.
“We had a pacemaker in London for the first 10km, we were all in the first pack together with a few of the Americans that we know,” she said.
“It certainly makes it easier if you jump on that bus for the first 10K and then take it from there.
“If we all get to take care of each other out there it’s going to make it a much more pleasant experience.”
Kenyan runners have finished one-two in the past two Commonwealth women’s marathons, with Australia’s last triumph coming courtesy of the late Kerryn McCann in Melbourne in 2006.
“The Kenyans are always going to be good and they’re always going to have their tactics and their race plans,” Weightman said.
“Generally they will always work together so you’ve got to be prepared for everything.”
Fourteen athletes have been added to the track and field squad which is expected to eventually number 111, including 23 para-athletes.
Reigning Commonwealth champion Michael Shelley leads the men’s team with Liam Adams and Chris Hamer.
National champion Stuart McSweyn and Patrick Tiernan were named in the 10,000m as was Celia Sullohern.
MEN
10,000m: Stuart McSweyn, Patrick Tiernan
Marathon: Michael Shelley, Liam Adams, Chris Hamer
T38 100m: Evan O’Hanlon
T38 long jump: Erin Cleaver
F38 shot put: Cameron Crombie
WOMEN
10,000m: Celia Sullohern
Marathon: Lisa Weightman, Jess Trengove, Virginia Moloney
T35 100m: Isis Holt
T54 1500m: Madison DeRozario
Originally published as Marathon queens hatch plan to curb Kenyan challenge at Gold Coast
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