‘Insane stuff’: Aussie runner shatters marathon record

An Australian runner says he has “transformed” after producing a freakish run the country has never seen before.

Australia has a new marathon champion after Andy Buchanan smashed the national record at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday night.

Buchanan, who competed at the Paris Olympics as a last-minute reserve runner, reached the finish line in Spain with a time of 2:06:22 — shattering Brett Robinson’s 2022 mark by more than one minute (2:07:31), according to Athletics Australia.

The 33-year-old blazed the course with average splits of 2.59 minutes per kilometre.

The Bendigo school teacher’s time was enough for 16th spot in the race, which was won by Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe.

Australian athletics commentators were blown away by Buchanan’s effort.

Athletics journalist Mitch Dyer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Andy Buchanan has burrowed the 2:07 marker in Valencia to now sit at the tip of the all time list with a new national record.

“Insane stuff for a guy who got invited to the Olympics two weeks before the event started.”

A post from Angus Barnes, the athletics analyst behind the popular AthsSTATS Twitter profile, shows how locked-in Buchanan was.

🔥 2⃣ : 0⃣6⃣ : 2⃣2⃣🔥

New Australian Men's Marathon Record

Congrats ANDY BUCHANAN

5km splits:

14:57
14:55
14:55
14:48
(1:02:51 half)
15:01
14:58
15:20
15:01
6:27 (2.2 km)#soconsistent

— athsSTATS (@athsstats) December 1, 2024

Andy Buchanan's splits from Valencia Marathon. Our new Australian record holder - incredible running! pic.twitter.com/GND6V0lgSh

— Jake Stevens (@CobbaStevens) December 1, 2024

The time is fast enough to qualify Buchanan for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September 2025.

“I feel like I’ve really transformed as an athlete this year,” Buchanan told Athletics Australia.

“I felt confident I could go around the 2:07:15 mark, and I kind of had this thought where the record would have been a bonus after such an awesome year, so if I go for it and blow up, I’d still look back on the year and be really happy with it.

Andy Buchanan is the new benchmark. Photo: Athletics Australia and Instagram @soniagrith.

“I still consider myself to be the guy from Bendigo that does a bit of running. It’s going to take me a while to process that I’m the Australian record holder.”

He said he was aware of the record as the race progressed.

“At the last 10km, I was trying to do the math on the record but I was so fatigued,” he said.

“I realised I had two minutes left to break the record at the 400m mark, so I made my goal 2:06:30 to try and get that World Championships qualifying standard and I did it.

“I’ve got so much confidence in myself.”

It was also a special day for Isobel Batt-Doyle, who shaved 28 seconds off her personal best with an impressive 2:22:59 performance to finish 8th overall. Her run was the third-quickest by an Australian female runner.

Andrew Buchanan competes during the Men's Marathon during day fifteen of the Olympic Games in Paris. Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images.

At the front of the field, Sawe went fifth in the all-time list after in 2hr 2min 5sec on his debut in the event.

Only compatriots Kelvin Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge, and the Ethiopian pair of Kenenisa Bekele and Sisay Lemma, have gone faster than Sawe, the world half-marathon champion in 2023.

Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu took almost two minutes off her personal best to claim the women’s title in 2hr 16min 49sec.

The marathon went ahead in Valencia just a month after floods swept through the Spanish city.

The disaster left 230 people dead, flooding having also washed away roads and destroyed homes and businesses.

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Insane stuff’: Aussie runner shatters marathon record