Race Date: Sunday 24 August 2025

A joint report from Leah Epton and Jack Chapman on this two lapper, out and back course following the banks of the Brisbane River. Very beautiful but chaotic for, as it was a small event, the paths remained open which meant competitors were weaving around people for majority of the morning – a good path for training so many were out on their early morning run at the time of the race. It was also confirmed at the end that the course measured long by 250m. (Editor: So over a minute for Leah and Jack). The race started at 6:30 am to avoid the heat. It was difficult to adjust to racing that early and meant that they had to get up at 4:30am. Leah found it difficult to eat before the race but managed a dry bagel at 5 am and hoped for the best.  It was 12C at the start of the race and gradually increased throughout the race to 25C.

Leah confessed to feeling nervous beforehand as she had never tackled a ‘proper’ half marathon before and wasn’t sure what pace to run. Leah advised that she felt quite comfortable with her pace throughout but didn’t feel confident enough at the time to push harder as she unsure of what could be maintained. Running on her own for most of the race proved to be difficult mentally with focus being maintained by simply enjoying the scenery and getting to each check point. Nevertheless, a 12 minute PB was the result and first woman too. Prize for first place prize was a $150 voucher (£75) for the local running shop (Wildfire Sports & Trek if you’re ever in Brisbane) which were spent on a new pair of Asics Noosa Tri shoes for an extra twelve dollars.

Jack also admitted that he had never run a half marathon before and, not really knowing what to expect, didn’t go into the race with that much pressure. It was a fun charity event that both Jack and Leah and had signed up for as a replacement for the Newark Half since their flights overlapped with the race. Preparation wasn’t ideal on Jack’s part as he went into the race with some “stock standard low stack everyday running shoes” and no gels which were missed when he needed a kick during the last 2km but the goal was more to just enjoy the race and tick off a run in his home city with Leah. Jack ended up sharing the lead for about 18k with the lad who went on to win the race. Leading for that long did prompt some interesting interactions as it seemed the early 6:30 am start meant some of the marshals weren’t completely awake yet for, on multiple occasions, they let them simply run past heading in the wrong direction. One particular time this led to them running down a jetty which ended in the joint decision to turn around or they would end up in the river. After the first loop, though, it was all smooth sailing as the route was now known and Jack could find his pace a bit better.

Being an out-and-back course, Jack did enjoy getting to see Leah three times, each time getting gradually further from the next woman as her lead grew. Unfortunately, after holding the lead for so long himself, Jack couldn’t complete the Steel City Double Gold and ended up getting broken by the eventual winner at the 18km mark and losing the last two places to drop to fourth overall in the last kilometre.

Overall, it was a great morning with Jack having and a lot of fun showing off a bit of Brisbane to Leah. Just next time, maybe, some race shoes and a few gels during the run might help him in the final 3km. (Editor: Plus some experience over the distance too).

Jack’s partner for the first 18km was Joey Campbell who went on to open up a forty second gap and win in 01:24:51. There were 368 starters.