Brady Threlfall pictured winning the Northern Grampians Shire Council Herb Hedemann Invitation Handicap.
Photo by
Luke Hemer
Brady Threlfall is heading to the United States to run in the world-renowned Chicago Marathon this October.
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The Chicago course is one of six world marathon majors and is among the three most coveted in the US, alongside Boston and New York City.
Threlfall, having competed internationally numerous times, has never raced in the US before and was excited to see what all the hype was about.
“It’s one of the pinnacle marathons in the world to go to,’’ he said.
“Both the men’s and women’s world records are set there, so it’s a bit of a bucket list race that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The Chicago Marathon sees more than 50,000 runners annually, with most applicants needing to hit time qualifiers for selection based on their age range.
Brady Threlfall has done a couple of 200km training weeks in the lead up to Chicago Marathon. Photo: Luke Hemer
Photo by
Luke Hemer.=
Threlfall was selected for the American Development Program, a sub-elite scheme that grants free entry to athletes who have run a marathon in under two hours and 25 minutes.
Athletes in the program also start the Chicago Marathon behind the elite field, which is made up of top American and international runners.
“That was another reason to do it. I'm still running at close to a higher level, I thought I've got to make the most of these opportunities to get into these races while I can,” Threlfall said.
Running his personal best of two hours and 19 minutes in April this year, Threlfall is hoping to shave one minute off that time on the flat and fast Chicago course.
He has completed a specific 12-week training block in preparation, including running in the Victorian half-marathon championships and pace making for the recent Sydney marathon.
“Everything's going to plan so far. I've been happy with how the body's responded to the training,’’ he said.
“At the same time, you’ve just got to have so much respect for the marathon because there's so much that can go wrong — there's so many variables that can affect performance.”
Threlfall will land in the US around one week before competing in the Chicago Marathon, which is on Sunday, October 13.
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