Athletics Australia – News – Cadbury Marathon – Harlow first across the line in Hobart

This year's field for the Cadbury Marathon of nearly 200 athletes made it the largest marathon ever held in Tasmania.

With gorgeous conditions turned on for the day, the course snaked along the Derwent River through the northern suburbs of Hobart, with many participants recording personal best times across the 42.2km trek.

The first man home was pre-race favourite Trent Harlow from Melbourne. After being kept company for the first seven kilometres by Hobart’s Kedir Ahmed, Harlow ran on his own for the rest of the journey to clock 2:30.22.

“I really enjoyed my first experience at Cadbury. It’s an event I’ve always wanted to do and fortunately I had a comfortable lead that I was able to run along and take in the course and surroundings.

“There was a great deal of support out on the course from fellow competitors and I loved the friendly atmosphere at the finish, it had an almost carnival atmosphere to it,” Harlow said.

Launceston’s Jarrod Vos was the surprise packet of the day, coming in second overall. After a conservative beginning, Vos powered home in the back half of the race to get up for second and win the Tasmanian marathon title in the process.

“I’m extremely pleased with my run. It’s a five minute improvement on when I last ran here at Cadbury in 2007 and it’s my first state title which comes as quite a surprise,” the 28-year-old physiotherapist said. 

Defending champion Sharon Ryder of Brisbane made it back-to-back Cadbury Marathon titles, taking the women’s race in 3:04:33. Ryder capitalised on the misfortune of early leader Jenny Gillard, who withdrew at the 15 kilometre mark to make it two wins a row.

“I’m a bit disappointed with my time, as I was hoping to break three hours. I don’t know if I would have caught Jenny or not without her pulling out, but I was definitely running stronger in the second half of the race. 

“My next race is the Paris Marathon in April, so I’m looking forward to that,” Ryder said.

With thanks to Richard Welsh at Athletics Tasmania

Athletics Australia – News