Kenyans in the running for Gold Coast marathon $20,000 bonus

Kenyan runners Stephen Tum and Stephen Kibiwot are set to take on the Gold Coast marathon eyeing off a podium finish.

Gold Coast Airport Marathon Kenyan elite athletes Stephen Kibiwot and Stephen Tum will be aiming to break the Gold Coast Airport Marathon course record this Sunday 6 July. Both athletes have personal best times under the current course record. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

THEY may have been happy soaking up the midwinter sun on the beach yesterday but for Kenyan runners Stephen Tum and Stephen Kibiwot, their first visit to the Gold Coast is about business rather than pleasure.

The pair will be among thousands to line up in the Gold Coast marathon on Sunday.

But unlike most, Tum and Kibiwot are genuine contenders to climb on to the podium after the 42.2km race.

With best times well under the current record of 2hr 10min 1 sec, the pair is racing for a place in the history books in a race almost guaranteed to be the fastest in the event’s history.

The awarding of gold label status by world athletics body the IAAF has allowed organisers to assemble the best field in the event’s history — and Tum and Kibiwot are determined to enjoy their moment in the sun.

Tum heads in to the race with the third-fastest nomination time — a 2:06.35 registered at Marrakech just last year.

And he is confident he has a chance to win, despite a quality field including Ethiopian Gebretsadik Adihana (2:06.23) and Tum’s countryman and joint Gold Coast record-holder Nicholas Manza (2:06.34) .

“(I have) no injuries, I am fit at the moment,’’ Tum said after arriving on the Coast yesterday in peak form.

“I haven’t looked at the course but I hear it’s a flat course and a flat course is good.

“If it’s flat it will make it a chance to win.

“If the weather is good, maybe I will win, but if it’s cold, I don’t know. But I will try.’’

Fellow Kenyan Kibiwot, who has a best time of 2:07.54 set at the Prague marathon in 2009, knows he faces a challenge against the joint record-holders.

“I know Manza, being a strong guy. Also Kawauchi’s strong,’’ Kibiwot said.

“I think a good chance (for me) is maybe to be among the top three.’’

Tum and Kibiwot will be among the elite athletes to be presented with their race numbers by Australian marathon great Rob de Castella today.

The pair will be trying to channel the former world champion on Sunday, with a bonus of $20,000 up for grabs if the winner can break the race record and claim de Castella’s 32-year-old Australian all-comers record of 2:09.18.