If Andy Buchanan hadn’t already buried his demons, the build-up to his first marathon in nearly 18 months would have done the trick.
The Olympian and former schoolteacher will be introduced as Australia’s “former” marathon national record-holder at the start line in Sydney on Sunday.
Buchanan had set the mark in Valencia two years ago but was then beset by injuries that have kept him away from the distance since the London Marathon last April.
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Fit again, he returned to racing over the half-marathon distance on the Gold Coast six weeks ago with his record still intact.
But then Haftu Strintzos, the former Ethiopian shepherd adopted by an Australian aid worker, had a day out to pip Buchanan’s mark by two seconds.
And this week, with Sydney now one of seven world majors and 40,000 runners competing on Sunday, Buchanan’s predictably been forced to talk about it.
“If you asked me this two weeks after Gold Coast, it would have been a trigger,” Buchanan said of a record he realised had become part of his identity.
“But I’m bringing as many people along on this journey as possible, the good and the bad.
“It’s a cool lifestyle, but when it doesn’t go well, and that’s your job, it’s challenging.
“For a few weeks I thought the world was ending. Now it’s like, ‘How cool I had it for a piece of time and I’m excited to get it back’.”
While he found form in a blistering City2Surf victory earlier this month, Buchanan was quick to point out the hilly course was not the place to do it.
An elite field featuring world champion Alphonce Simbu and defending Sydney champion Hailemaryam Kiros, whose two hours, six minutes and six seconds was the quickest marathon ever run in the country, will be pushing the pace though.
Buchanan thinks they may try to go as much as three minutes under mark and leave him in a secondary pack that could, funnily enough, be paced by Strintzos.
“They’re talking like they want to break that record. They’re phenomenal runners and that’s where it’s at these days in the marathon,” he said.
Incredibly, this will be the first marathon Buchanan has raced in Australia.
There is also $30,000 on offer for the first Australian over the line and Buchanan, despite being the face of the race in the lead-up, isn’t taking his eyes off the prize.
“As a runner you need to make the most of this; there’s not a lot of money in running so you need to build your profile and be doing different things but the best way to do that is run well on race day,” he said.
“We’re not used to getting the attention but I had five or six people this morning said good luck on my run, so you use that in a positive way.
“It’s a balancing act and something I haven’t got quite right in the past, and been too focused on things other than the race.”
