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Sinead Diver opens up on her love-hate relationship with the Melbourne Marathon

BY her own admission, Sinead Diver has a love-hate relationship with the Melbourne Marathon. But all that could be about to change, with the 41-year-old hoping for a record breaking run on Sunday.

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THE old cliche about a fine wine getting better with age has never been more appropriate when used to describe Sinead Diver’s running career.

On Sunday the 41-year-old will run in her third Melbourne Marathon with an eye to pocketing the $20,000 bonus for breaking the race record.

Diver has had a remarkable season on the road, winning four times, producing four personal bests and four course records as well as claiming the national half-marathon title.

She has spent the past few days with an eye on the weather forecast given the conditions will be a factor in her quest to topple Lisa Weightman’s race record of 2hr26min.05sec.

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The fact Diver hasn’t even broken the 2hr30 barrier isn’t an issue given she’s a different athlete this year to one who has finished second twice around the streets of Melbourne.

The Irish-born runner was second on debut in 2014 and runner-up again in 2016.

“I have a love-hate relationship with the Melbourne Marathon,” Diver says. “I debuted here in 2014 and had such a positive experience.

“However, I raced it again in 2016 and unfortunately things didn’t go to plan, and it ended up being one of my toughest races ever.”

Sinead Diver will be the one to beat in the women’s Melbourne Marathon. Picture: David Crosling
Sinead Diver will be the one to beat in the women’s Melbourne Marathon. Picture: David Crosling

Diver has represented Australia twice at world championships, her best result 20th in the marathon in London last year.

Her introduction to running is a great tale.

Back in 2010 after the birth of her eldest son she was looking to get fit and took part in a corporate group event around Melbourne’s famous running track ‘The Tan’.

The IT consultant clocked 15:30 at her first attempt with her workmates not believing the time. She went back the following day and ran even faster.

Diver then joined a recreational running group where she met her coach Tim Crosbie and as they say the rest is history.

She’s now part of the powerful Melbourne Track Club empire and will have one of her training partners, Jack Rayner, pacing her throughout today’s race.

Rayner is just off the plane after wining the Commonwealth Half-Marathon title in Cardiff, Wales last weekend.

Sinead Diver after crossing the line in first place in the City to Bay at Glenelg. Picture: Matt Loxton
Sinead Diver after crossing the line in first place in the City to Bay at Glenelg. Picture: Matt Loxton

“He’s been doing so well this year and really knocked it out of the park at Cardiff last weekend,” Diver said. “He’s a very talented road runner so I know he’ll do a great job pacing me.

“I’m hoping to run a fast time. Training has been going really well and I’m definitely ready to race, so we’ll see what happens on the day.”

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/sinead-diver-opens-up-on-her-lovehate-relationship-with-the-melbourne-marathon/news-story/a7dc20054d8b2a4c37d0a1a636a52cb0