Western Athletics Jack Rayner’s return to the long distance of the marathon has paid off.
The 2020 Olympic marathon runner had stepped back to the shorter distances due to a number of injuries.
It lead to him claiming a number of Australian titles and three straight half-marathon wins at the Melbourne Marathon event.
He missed out on this year’s Olympics in both the 5000 metres and 10 kilometres having finished outside the quota of athletes.
On Sunday, he returned to the marathon distance and claimed the race title in his first attempt.
He clocked 2:11:49 to finish nearly two minutes ahead of Ryan Gregson
In the women’s event, Genevieve Gregson has scored her first marathon win, two months after running in the event at the Paris Olympics.
The Queenslander won in two hours, 28 minutes and 13 seconds, beating local Sarah Klein by nearly three minutes. Kate Mason, also from Melbourne, completed the women’s podium in 2:34:08.
Genevieve Gregson also won the half marathon last year and was making her full distance debut like Rayner.
The 46th Melbourne Marathon festival attracted 42,000 runners, with Bendigo’s Andy Buchanan winning the men’s half-marathon in 1:01:42 after he also ran in the marathon at the Paris Games.
Leanne Pompeani from Canberra took out the women’s race, posting 1:09:01 in an exciting finish.
