Road Round-up | Robinson and Weightman Crowned Champions

The Australian Half Marathon Championships at the Sunshine Coast Marathon on Sunday witnessed experienced campaigners Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau) and Lisa Weightman (Dick Telford) clinch national titles to headline a busy weekend on the roads.

Robinson continued his winning ways on the roads in 2022 when clocking 1:02:26 with a commanding performance to stretch away from teammate Sam McEntee (Nic Bideau) who set a new personal best of 1:02:32 for second place, while Liam Boudin (Jackson Elliot) was third with 1:03:02.

His third consecutive victory over the 21.1km trip this year, Robinson’s presence on the bitumen has been unmistakable with half marathon wins in Launceston (1:01:59), the Gold Coast (1:03:54) and the Sunshine Coast (1:02:32) in recent months, along with 10km wins in Hobart (28:39) and Sydney (28:42).

Weightman roared to a dominant win in a blistering time of 1:09:51 to secure the women’s title in emphatic fashion, despite a valiant debut from Paige Campbell (Philo Saunders) who took second place in 1:12:14 – narrowly ahead of World Athletics Championships representative Sarah Klein (Peter Schuwalow) with a 1:12:26 performance to earn bronze.

The 43-year-old delivered the third fastest time of her career and her fastest since 2019 to consolidate the form that saw her finish second in the Oceania Marathon Championships on the Gold Coast last month, on that occasion running 2:25:55 – with Weightman proving to be a name still well and truly in the Australian marathon-mix.

It was little surprise to see Liam Adams (Ken Hall) return to the fray at the City2Surf after his fourth place finish in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, grinding his competitors into the ground over 14km to snare gold in the world’s largest fun run.

Adams’ time of 41:14 was enough to defeat Ed Goddard (Gavin Burren) who was forced to settle for second place in 41:28 after an enticing battle over the distance, while Andre Waring (Stephen Dineen) took bronze in 42:27.

The women’s bout was won by Leanne Pompeani (Des Proctor) who continued her ascendency on the roads when adding another victory to her resume, this time dismantling the field over 14km in a time of 45:49 to finish ahead of Chloe Tighe (Ian Hatfield) in 46:18. Pompeani’s time features prominently in the 50-year history of the race and bodes well for the 26-year-old who is targeting a future on the roads in the green and gold.

The Elite Wheelchair race saw Samuel Rizzo (Richard Coleman) defeat his own coach en route to victory in a time of 41:48 on the undulating course with a strong performance.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 15/8/2022