Race record tumbles in men’s marathon while debutant wins women’s ASICS Gold Coast Marathon

Press Release GCM 2025
Sunday Race Review

Race record tumbles in men’s marathon while debutant wins women’s ASICS Gold Coast Marathon

The men’s race

Japan’s Yuki Takei smashed the 2023 men’s race record of countryman Naoki Koyama in today’s ASICS Gold Coast Marathon.

His 2:07:33 broke the old record by seven seconds in his first overseas marathon while Ethiopia’s Tegest Ymer (2:29:27) took the 2025 women’s crown in her first time racing over the distance.

They were at the pointy end of a record field of over 15,000 in the weekend’s feature event, which was run in perfect windless conditions on the Gold Coast today.

Takei defeated compatriots Aoi Ota (2:08:31) and Ryoma Takeuchi (2:08:38) to become the 2025 men’s champion and the 11th Japanese winner of the Gold Coast event since Shinji Kawashima’s breakthrough win in 1991.

Stunningly, eight of the top 10 men were from the Land of the Rising Sun with USA’S Josh Izewski (7th) and Kenyan Mathew Samperu (8th) foiling a top 10 clean sweep.

The best placed Australian male, Recce Edwards, finished 20th in 2:17:57, a performance which placed him second in the 2025 Oceania Marathon Championships behind New Zealander Chris Dryden who ran a personal best to win the title (2:17:34). Alex Harvey (2:19:40) was third in the Oceania Championships and the Sunshine Coast athlete won the 2025 Queensland Marathon Championships.

Takei (25) said he was pleased to win his first marathon overseas and, he says, the personal best time and race record were big bonuses.

“Instead of chasing my PB or the record, I was simply aiming for the first place today,” Takei said.

“But to break the course record at such a good and vibrant marathon is amazing,” he said.

Takei came to the Gold Coast a few days prior to familiarise himself with the course and enjoy the “beauty and ambience” of the city.

He said he decided to race the Gold Coast for his international debut because of the fast course and the traditionally favourable mid-winter conditions.

“This has been a great stepping stone and makes me want to try more marathons and come back next year to defend my title,” he said.

Similarly, 22-year-old Ota was ecstatic with his podium placing in his first ASICS Gold Coast Marathon.

“It’s only my second marathon – the first one I’ve actually finished and the first of many I hope to compete in overseas,” Ota said.

The 10,000m and half marathon specialist said his full distance race strategy held up until near the end.

“I had pre-planned surges at different parts of the course, but I found it hard to break from the pack and when Takei took off at the end, I couldn’t match him.

“But I’m very happy to have finally finished a marathon and to have completed it here,” he said.

Third placegetter Takeuchi was another to bag a personal best today.

"I knew I was on track for a PB, and I made it, so I’m feeling 100 percent,” Takeuchi said.

The 2024 Gold Coast pacer said he loved the flat course so much he had to make the trip back for 2025.

“The pacing was great and it was a very flat course, great for dropping times, I just loved it,” he said.

“Everyone was cheering by my first name today because they could see it on my bib; it was just so great and felt really good,” Takeuchi said, “And I’m looking forward to having a lot to eat and drink tonight.”

The women’s race

Ethiopian Tegest Ymer (2:29:27), Kenyan Caroline Kilel (2:29:44) and another Ethiopian in Alemtsehay Zerihun (2:31:17) filled the women’s podium.

Ymer was so pleased with her win on debut that she is already planning her title defence.

“I'm happy to be the champion today and I’ll be coming back to this beautiful place,” Ymer said.

Having never raced over the brutal marathon distance before, the young Ethiopian sat on second placed Kilel before unleashing a sensational sprint kick around 800m from home to win by 16 seconds.

“It was my tactic to sit and kick until close to the finish,” Ymer said.

“Half-marathons can be hard, but the marathon is a lot harder; I felt very good today though,” she said.

Ymer is the first Ethiopian winner of the race since Abebech Bekele’s triumph in 2017 and only the third in the history of the Gold Coast event, the other being Goitetom Tesema’s breakthrough win in 2011
Second placed 44 year-old journeywoman Kilel, running in her 40th full distance event and first on the Gold Coast, said marathoners never stop learning.

“I was with the group at the halfway mark, and the footsteps I was hearing were largely African [four of the five athletes in the lead group at that time], so I was with company and feeling good,” she said.
“I gave a couple of kicks at the 30km and 35km mark, but when Tegest made her break with about a kilometre or so to go, I couldn’t keep up with her.

ASICS sponsored Zerihun crossed the line third and said her big podium move was made at the 25km mark.

“I’ve never run the Gold Coast Marathon before, but it was a good race and went to plan,” Zerihun said. “However, I’m definitely feeling a bit of pain now.”

Zerihun who trains with Ymer, was excited to see her stablemate and friend take home the win.

“I didn’t know that my teammate had won, so I’m very happy for her,” Zerihun said.

The best placed Australian woman and winner of the 2025 Oceania Marathon Championships was Simone McInnes who finished a gallant 7th in 2:37:05.

Second in the Oceania Championships was Ella McCartney (2:43:20) and third was Nikki Curry (2:43:41).

The winner of the 2025 Queensland Marathon Championships was Gold Coast local Riine Ringi who defended her title from last year.

And on a day and weekend of firsts Robi Syianturi, who finished 13th (2:15:04) and Odekta Elvina Naibaho (2:31:34), the 4th woman overall, set new men’s and women’s Indonesian national marathon records.

The 2025 Wheelchair Marathons

Earlier, in one of the most spectacular wheelchair race performances seen on the Gold Coast course, Victoria’s Sam Rizzo took the men’s 2025 Gold Coast Wheelchair Marathon in the cracking time of 1:31:12.

His time was the second fastest ever recorded on the Gold Coast only behind Kurt Fearnley’s 2016 race record (1:30:18).

Rizzo took victory over seasoned campaigners and former winners of the event, Japan’s Kota Hokinoue (1:40:35) and ACT’s Jake Lappin (1:46:09).

Madison De Rozario (1:51:28) won her fourth Gold Coast Wheelchair Marathon and shared the podium with marathon debutant Mikaela Dingley (2:19:49) and Sharnie Digby (3:22:41) who was competing in her third race of the weekend.
“It was a huge PB for me, I’m just so happy with everything,” Rizzo said.

“When I started off, I just decided to go with whatever happened and having Kota and Jake behind me, I had that in the back of my mind the entire race.

“I made my bed early and had to go with it for the whole race; I just didn’t expect to be that far in front of them from so early on.

“I’ve had a huge year with the London Marathon which didn’t go the way I wanted, and I had a track series in Switzerland which went well, and I put in a really big couple of weeks since then which has really paid off,” he said.

Rizzo, who is also the Gold Coast Wheelchair 10km race record holder, said he has special regard for the course, despite an unfounded fear of rain.

“I was a little worried about rain at about the 20km mark, but then I realised it was just sweat and kept going.

“That crowd is amazing, and I want to give a huge thank you to the organisers and sponsors and volunteers,” he said.

2023 champion Hokinoue said his race didn’t follow the script.

“I didn’t plan that Sam was going to actually leave me, that wasn’t really part of the plan, so it was a bit of one man race,” Hokinoue said.

The 51-year-old who loves races with turns and corners, says the Gold Coast course is a challenge he likes to take on.

“This is a flat and fast course, it's not one of my strengths, that’s why I like coming back to the Gold Coast to challenge myself.

“I’ll definitely be back again,” he said.

In third place, the 2022 and 2024 champion Lappin lamented his inability to notch his third win.
“It's always a nice course, always a good race; I just didn't have it today,” the 32 year-old Canberran said.

“Rizzo and Kota raced so well; they took a corner well early in the race, and I was just a bit off the pack from then, so it became a bit of a time trial.

“I was just trying to hold a nice average speed, but it just kept dropping as the race went on and I couldn’t bridge the gap,” he said.

Madison De Rozario is one of the world’s most successful athletes and that golden form continued on a course where she has enjoyed fantastic success, including gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Today the 31 year-old, four-time Paralympian won her fourth Gold Coast Wheelchair Marathon in a time of 1:51.28.

“It's nice to be back and get another win,” De Rozario said.

“It's such an unreal atmosphere out there; we've also got our names on our helmets, so it's great to get that cheering and engagement from the crowd as well; it's unreal.”

The racer from Perth, who has competed and won at countless major marathons all over the world, had her sister and family cheering her on around the course.

“The crowds really do turn up on the Gold Coast,” she said.

“And I think that Australia has this unreal love for wheelchair racing that started here on the Gold Coast in 2018, so, racing here feels sort of like coming home for me,” she said.

De Rozario said for much of the race she was racing alongside the men.

“The three guys that took out the top places went out quite early, obviously, and I got to push with two of the other guys for the first 20 kilometres of the race,” De Rozario said.

“It was nice to have someone out there on the road with me, but for the rest of it, it was just me and Nigel [no friends],” she joked.

The champion athlete will keep focusing on her road training as she looks ahead to the Sydney Marathon in eight weeks.

“Sydney's coming up in a little bit, and we'll see how that goes; I'm off the track for the foreseeable future, maybe definitely.

“And because it’s the start of the Paralympic cycle we can try some new things and get some bigger base training in, prioritise training and try new things and see what works with the hard work,” she said.

A great weekend of racing

Today’s racing followed yesterday’s ‘Super Saturday’ spectacular which saw course records fall in the Gold Coast Airport 5km, Australia Fair 2km Junior Dash, and Victoria’s Andy Buchanan emphatically take Pat Carroll’s 31-year strong Australian all-comers record in the China Airlines Half Marathon.

Over 39,000 people competed across the 45th annual weekend, with 3,500 from 50 countries overseas and 80 percent of all participants travelling to the event from outside the Gold Coast.

Events Management Queensland CEO Ben Mannion said his team is ecstatic with how the event has gone.

“There were record numbers on the streets, plenty of records tumbling across the races, untold numbers of personal bests and Mother Nature played her part magnificently,” Mr Mannion said.

“It really doesn’t get any better than this,” he said.