Robinson vs Road | London Marathon 2022

So talented is Brett Robinson that Sunday’s London Marathon has been touted as the day Robert de Castella’s 2:07:51 national record comes under fire, but the two-time Olympian says the most important battle is the one against himself.

The 31-year-old possesses a personal best that most could only dream of, 2:10:55, and has competed in the event at the pinnacle of the sport - but it is not in his nature to stop mining when one lusty blow could strike the jackpot.

“I definitely feel pressure because I have had a few cracks at it now and still haven’t run near what I think I should be able to. It’s not even the time that I am thinking about, it’s more just the process of actually putting together a good race,” Robinson said.

“I do think that I can run fast. Obviously breaking the Australian record would have to be an excellent day where a lot of things need to go right.”

Already the national record holder of 59:57 in the half marathon, Robinson has long teased as the nation’s next great male marathon hopeful, with many of his campaigns derailed by a persistent stitch which has left him unable to demonstrate his true prowess.

“I think about it every single day, on every single run. It’s frustrating because it’s such a big build up to just rock up, get a stitch, and wonder what you have done with your life for the last three months,” Robinson said.

“I wish there were a couple of 30km races around, it’s nearly a different sport! There have been plenty of people who have been good at the half but just can’t figure out the marathon, and I don’t want to be one of them.”

Returning to the marathon for the first time since Tokyo where he finished in 66^th place after encountering stomach problems at 28km, Robinson and coach Nic Bideau have altered his preparation to include more races, faster recoveries, and longer runs at higher intensities.

“Last year we barely got a race. Going into Tokyo I hadn’t raced in so long, when I got to the actual race, I had kind of forgot how to race and push my body. I wanted to teach my legs how to run hard again,” Robinson said.

“I feel like everything I have been doing has been helping. I have been doing heaps of mobility and even changing the way I run a little bit. I never got it in any of the half marathons or at the Great North Run, which was good because I feel like that was a solid effort.”

That Great North Run was the most encouraging performance of Robinson’s year to date, finishing in fifth place of the slick field to bolster his confidence which has been aided by one key difference in his training:

“My repetitions haven’t been any better but the recoveries have improved a lot. Making those floats and recoveries a bit quicker has been good to test my body to see if it can maintain that solid effort for a long time, and it’s been going well,” Robinson said.

“It will still be scary getting over half-way in the race and thinking about if the stitch is going to come on. Hopefully I have at least delayed it, so that if I do get it, it’s later in the race.”

Robinson intends on joining the pace group programmed for 64-minutes through half-way in London, which will place him on schedule to join the likes of De Castella and Steve Moneghetti at the top of the Australian all-time list – more importantly proving to himself that his best is yet to come.

“They were just very good runners, and they were good at the marathon. I was a track runner until I was 27 before I became a marathon runner, which is why I feel like I am young to the marathon and learning the event,” Robinson said.

“The thing with the marathon is that for most of the field, you are not really racing everyone else. You are racing yourself and you are racing the marathon, so you don’t really get caught up in the rivalry too much.”

Robinson will be joined by Ed Goddard at the London Marathon which will be streamed via FloTrack on Sunday October 2, while Madison De Rozario, Christie Dawes and Jake Lappin will contest the Wheelchair races.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 28/9/2022