Gold Coast Marathon 2018: Barsosio chasing first win for Kenyan woman

AGNESS Barsosio is looking to become the first Kenyan woman to win the Gold Coast Marathon and wants to run the fastest race in Australia to do it.

CLOUDY, the chance of morning fog, a high chance of showers in the afternoon or evening.

It’s not perfect winter beach weather for the Gold Coast but the Bureau of Meteorology’s Gold coast forecast for tomorrow is music to the ears of Kenyan harrier Agness Barsosio.

The 35-year-old will line up in the Gold Coast Marathon with a personal best time and recent form that suggests she could threaten Sydney Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi’s Australian allcomers record of 2hr 23min 14sec in the event.

The Kenyan has a best time of 2:20.59, set when she finished second in Paris last year and she believes she is in the form to dip under the 2:25 barrier.

GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS FOR 50C A DAY

Barsosio is chasing the record set by Gold Coast Marathon winner Abebech Bekele last year. Photo by Richard Gosling

Such a run would hand her the Gold Coast Marathon record, at least, beating the time set by last year’s winner, Ethiopia’s Abebech Bekele.

“My condition is good. If the weather is good, maybe we can do 2:23,” Barsosio said.

While Kenyan men have won the Gold Coast title on nine occasions — including Kenneth Mungara twice, in 2015 and 2016 — a Kenyan woman has never taken the title, something Barsosio and Ruth Chebitok are keen to correct tomorrow.

Barsosio is from Kapsabet in the North Rift of Kenya, an area that has produced Rio Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong and other significant distance runners in whose footsteps she would love to follow.

The 36-year-old has not given up on her own hopes of representing Kenya at the Olympics, hoping her efforts on the Gold Coast can kickstart her campaign to compete in Tokyo in 2020.

“It’s a very good time now for the marathon,” she said.

The race has not always been Barsosio’s forte though.

Having started as an 800m runner on the track, she gradually increased in distance until she found herself covering the full 42.2km.

“I used to run 800m before, then I moved to 500m, 10,000m and then the road race. It’s really a challenge. I like marathons because if you prepare well, you can run good. I have prepared well (for the Gold Coast). On Sunday, if there is no wind it will be perfect.”

After arriving on the Coast on Tuesday, Barsosio has completed several training runs along the city’s famous beaches and while she has been captivated by the scenery, she said she would have no time for sightseeing tomorrow.

“I will be concentrating on running — no looking around, maybe after.”