Gold Coast Airport Marathon to be seen around world on TV

THE Gold Coast Airport Marathon has the potential to reach more than 750 million households worldwide through of a new telecast deal.

Gold Coast Marathon - Winner of the marathon Silah Limo from Kenya Pic David Clark

THE Gold Coast Airport Marathon has the potential to reach more than 750 million households worldwide through a telecast deal with Channel Seven.

The arrangement features a delayed one-hour highlights package on free-to-air channel 7Mate and the distribution of the program to more than 80 countries.

News of the deal came yesterday as organisers revealed another packed international field for the gold label event.

Ambassador and former elite long distance champion Pat Carroll said he thought the event boasted the strongest talent pool since the Sydney 2000 Olympic marathon.

The former Commonwealth Games representative and four-times Gold Coast Marathon winner agreed with Olympian Benita Willis that experience could be the key to a podium finish at this year’s event in July.

Carroll has tipped 41-year-old Kenyan Kenneth Mungara as the best of a star-studded international field set to hit the Coast despite the announcement that 2014 winner Silah Limo would return in 2015.

Kenya’s Silah Limo crosses the line in record time to win last year’s Gold Coast marathon. Picture: David Clark

The elite athlete-turned coach admits Limo, the man who last year broke Rob de Castella’s Australian allcomers record will be hard to beat but said Mungara had proved his potential.

“He’s won a lot of marathons so there’s obviously the hunger to take a race and go for the win,” Carroll said

“It gives you an indication he’s a frontrunner so if the pace is not quick he’d be the type of guy who would take off.

“I’d like to see the inter­national field come to the Coast a couple of weeks before the marathon.

“A lot of them tend to arrive a couple of days before.

“When you’re an elite athlete and you’re pretty finely tuned – it does knock you around when you change time zones.”

Four-times Olympian Willis, the 2004 world cross-country champion, said 37-year-old Ukrainian Olena Shurkhno could be a dark horse against some of her younger opponents such as Japan’s Risa Takenaka, who debuted at Nagoya this year.

“It’s hard to say because she hasn’t really raced in a few years but she’s got the potential to run really well. She’s my pick to really push the pace,” she said.

The Gold Coast Airport Marathon program on July 4-5 is set to attract more than 27,000 participants of all ages and abilities.

Events include the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Wheelchair Marathon, ASICS Half-Marathon, Wheelchair 15km, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Suncorp Bank 5.7km Challenge and Junior Dash 4km & 2km races.