by Brett LarnerJeff Hunt ran the Australian marathon debut national record last Sunday at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, finishing 3rd in 2:11:00. With a race both patient and aggressive he won respect across Japan. Yesterday JRN featured Hunt's coach Ken Green talking about Hunt's performance and training from the coach's perspective. Today we bring you Jeff's own views and recollections.
Next week JRN will introduce its new JRNPremium subscription series of interviews with athletes, coaches, agents and others in the Japanese running world. The series begins with 2:08:40 marathoner Arata Fujiwara ahead of his return to the Tokyo Marathon later this month. Part two will be a follow-up interview with Fujiwara the day after Tokyo. For more information, click here.
JRN: How do you feel?
JH: Surprisingly, I’m physically very good. Emotionally, I’m very, very happy and pleased with the result.
What was your impression of the event? Beppu-Oita is notorious for its wind and the long, banked highway stretch. How did you feel about the course and conditions? Winner Jonathan Kipkorir said the winds were tough, but for much of the race it didn’t look to be too windy on the TV broadcast.
It is a fantastic event. I loved it. Who wouldn’t love it if they ran 2:11 and came 3rd on debut?? Derek Froude (Posso Sports) was the man for the job of getting me into the race. As far as Ken and I were concerned, the first hurdle was getting into the race. We weren’t worried about whether or not I was “invited,” I just wanted to get into the race and run. I wanted to race regardless of the support I did, or did not, get. Derek managed to score some accommodation with the organizers, which helped immensely, and for which I could hardly thank them, or him, enough. I also received some assistance from Athletics Australia for my flights over, again lessening the cost involved.
The organizers treated me the same as all the invited athletes, and made the trip so easy and relaxed. No special treatment after the race as they had already been very hospitable to begin with. I did not need to worry about anything. If I needed help, they’d provide it. The Japanese are very, very friendly people. Karla and Mako (our interpreters/chaperones) were very funny girls who made the trip fun for all.
The course itself is fantastic, rolling roads and a fantastic crowd. The course change for the wind side of things didn’t really matter this year. Brendan Reilly (a manager from US) said to myself, Martin Dent, and Brett Cartwright on the start line “Run fast today. The conditions may not be like this for another 10 years.” It was excellent conditions, perfect temperature and minimal wind. I barely felt it. It was the kind of conditions you should be able to run fast in.
You were a top steepler and XC guy for a long time, then last year moved up somewhat with solid 28:19 10000 m and 1:02:44 half marathon performances. Now with a strong marathon debut behind you where do you see things going? Is the marathon your main career goal or was this an experiment?
The Olympics have always been my dream. From the time I started running in high school, I wanted to go to the Olympics. I had no idea how to get there, but I knew I wanted to go. As well as I’ve performed in cross country, or as fast as I’ve run on the track, I think I should now refer to myself as a marathoner. I have only done one, but I really feel that I can make it my event. I’ve performed very well on track and over cross country, but the marathon, I feel, is my future and where I hold the most potential. Australia has a great history of marathon runners and we need someone to pick up where Mona and Deek [Steve Moneghetti and Rob de Castella] left off. I’m hoping that I can be that next chapter in the history books.
Next up, I will be running my first World Cross Country in Poland on 28th March. I’m sure that will be an experience, and I hope I perform there as well as I have here. I will still compete over cross country and on the track, it's just that now my focus has shifted to the roads. I don’t think there’ll be any more 1500m races for me, but a couple of tens and fives will be on order. My 5000m PB is way too slow.
How long have you been planning this marathon debut? What were your expectations going in? How carefully had you planned your strategy? Do you care to say anything specific about your training?
I had never planned on running a marathon. I have never had an interest until the last 6-12 months. I tried bargaining with Ken over the years on what I had to do before I would tackle one, but I ran out of bargaining chips, and had to concede. But, upon reflection of my training diary, it looks as though Ken has been priming me for a marathon for around 2-3 years.
Expectations were to run fast enough to make the Commonwealth Games team. After all, you never know what can happen to you at 30km. Our strategy was 3:06 per kilometre (31mins for every 10km), but most importantly to race the group I was in, and to not run alone. I seem to perform better when I “just race” and don’t worry about time.
There has been nothing spectacular about my training. I ran consistent 160-170km weeks for 8-9 months, with a few 180km+ weeks over the 5 weeks I spent at altitude. I learnt to run relaxed at pace, and that I think is the key to running fast, it feels effortless.
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