Gesture, nod, record: a case for marathon on 2032 menu
Murray Wenzel |
Michael Roeger’s magical marathon moment on the way to breaking his own world record in Sydney has rekindled the push for the event’s Paralympic return in Brisbane.
The five-time Games veteran ran with the leading two female elites on Sunday, easing off in the final 50 metres to allow Kenyan star Peres Jepchirchir her moment for what was her fourth world major title.
The 38-year-old, born without the lower half of his right arm, crossed in two hours, 18 minutes and 36 seconds, less than four minutes behind the third-best Australian male and 29th overall.
Not helped by the fact all the drink stations were placed on the right side of the road, Roeger missed four drinks stations along the journey.
But Jepchirchir saved the day, offering him some of her drinks to keep Roeger fuelled.
His time was 17 seconds quicker than the T46 record he set at London’s 2019 marathon and came just days after wife Lauren gave birth to their second child.
“I wrote to my wife this morning, ‘go quicker than that (record) and that’s what I did,” Roeger told AAP after the race.
“He was born on Monday but due on Saturday, so I’m glad he came then.
“My wife Lauren’s amazing and I wouldn’t be here without her.”
Roeger enjoyed an Arizona training stint with Australian track star Cam Myers earlier this year and said he “had to be in Sydney” after blitzing the Gold Coast half marathon in July.
“But whatever happened here, I was going to drive home to Canberra and there’d be a little boy there,” he said.
“That’s some perspective and maybe why I ran so well.”
Roeger shrugged off the drink station dramas and explained Jepchirchir’s goodwill as the beauty of the marathon.
“I just get on with it but it’s handy feedback for next time,” he said.
“That’s the camaraderie in a marathon.
“I just said thank you and we gave a nod to each other and we kept running together. It’s special.”
The marathon hasn’t been on the Paralympic schedule since 2021, when Roeger was nursing stress fractures in his leg but still finished sixth.
He won bronze and silver over 1500m in Games either side of that but, confident he can race well into his 40s, wants the event back on the schedule for Brisbane 2032.
“That nearly ended my career; it was shattering but I learnt alot about myself,” he said of the 2021 injury.
Roeger grew up in Langhorn Creek in South Australia before moving to Canberra, where he still calls home, on an AIS scholarship in 2009.
He knows claiming an elusive gold in one of the Games’ iconic events on home soil is a narrative that could convince decision-makers to reintroduce it.
“And breaking the record helps,” Roeger, who grew up playing Aussie rules, cricket and basketball, said.
“I’ve got so much more to give in the marathon.
“I’m like a fine wine coming out of Langhorn Creek – a nice bold shiraz – getting better with age.
“I’m missing the lower half of my right arm but it never stopped me doing anything and even here, I was like ‘I’m going to mix it with these people’.”
AAP