By David Rogers. QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA (remote) — Crossing the finish line ahead of some 15,000 runners to finish No. 7 and only three and a half minutes behind a sextet of marathon athletes from Japan, Blowing Rock’s Josh Izewski was the first American to finish the 26.2 miles of the legendary Gold Coast Marathon in Queensland on July 6.
On a course staged alongside some of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches, the Gold Coast is billed as Australia’s “flattest, fastest and most scenic” marathon course.
Izewski, 33, used a strong final 10K to finish at the top American in the field, moving up from No. 14 in the final six miles, to capture the No. 7 spot at the finish line. His time of 2:11:00 was just six seconds off his personal best for the distance, 2:10:54, established earlier this year in the Houston Marathon. It was Izewski’s second time competing in the Gold Coast event. In the second go around, he bettered his No. 5 mark in 2023 by 26 seconds (2:11:26).
Yuki Takei of Japan completed the course in 2:07:33 to capture the No. 1 title and collect not only the $20,000 first place prize money, but also picked up an additional $5,000 bonus for breaking the previous course record (2:07:40).
Takei was the first of six Japanese runners to sweep the first six spots, with Izewski crossing at No. 7 ahead of an international mix in the “top 25” that included 12 athletes from Japan, three from Kenya, two from Indonesia, two from New Zealand, two from Australia, and one each from the USA (Izewski), Canada, Great Britain and Mongolia.
Izewski’s No. 7 finish was a mere nine seconds behind Japan’s Yuto Imae.
