Gold Coast Airport Marathon: Track star Wellings won’t rule out switch to marathon ahead of Olympics

TRACK star Eloise Wellings has refused to shut the door on a switch to the marathon ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.

TRACK star Eloise Wellings has refused to shut the door on a switch to the marathon ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.

Wellings won the Gold Coast half marathon in 1hr 10min 10sec from a crack field which included Glasgow Commonwealth Games marathon medallist Jess Trengove and US distance star Sara Hall.

Wellings used the race as a training hitout ahead of the world championships in Moscow in Beijing in August where she will run the 5000m.

GOLD COAST MARATHON: LIVE SUNDAY ACTION

KENYANS PUT COAST RACE IN SPOTLIGHT

TAKENAKA CONTINUES JAPANESE LEGACY

Winner of the ASICS half marathon, Eloise Wellings. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

And while the 32-year-old declared her love for the track, her performance in the half marathon had distance legends pleading for her to consider changing course.

Australian marathon great Steve Moneghetti made an impassioned call during race commentary.

“Eloise, if you’re listening, forget the 5000m and 10,000m, try to qualify for the marathon for Rio,’’ Moneghetti said.

While she called Moneghetti’s comments “cheeky’’, Wellings said the thought had crossed her mind.

Eloise Wellings with Manchester Commonwealth Games marathon silver medallist Krishna Stanton, another to encourage her to convert to the longer distance. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

“There was a point in the race where I thought, ‘could I run at this pace for another 20km?’ Sometimes I said yes, other times I said no,’’ she said.

“I heard what Monas said, that was very cheeky of him but I love the track so much.

“Who knows? My coach (Nic Bideau) is in Melbourne. I might get on the phone and he might say we should try a marathon.

“I’m open to it, who knows? At the minute I have no desire but that might change before Rio.’’

Wellings will run the 5000m in Beijing and said the Gold Coast course was the perfect training ground for her.

“This is my kind of course,’’ she said.

“It’s flat and it’s fast. I’m typically a track runner, I’ve just started running races on the road, so this sort of course definitely suits me and I felt like I had a bit of an advantage there today.’’

Japan’s Takehiro Deki won the men’s race in 1:02.11, a personal best time and one he hopes he can build on as he works towards running a qualifying time for next year’s Rio Games.

Winner of the ASICS half marathon, Takehiro Deki from Japan. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

“I’m not really much of a track runner. A lot of Japanese guys are focusing on track right now with the world championships coming up but I wanted to focus on running a good road race,’’ he said.

“At this time of year there aren’t really many good road races in Japan so (the Gold Coast) is close by, so I chose it.’’