Maiden marathon winner takes it in her stride
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To run a marathon is a supreme feat, and to win one on debut is nothing short of unbelievable. But that’s exactly what Caitlin Adams did last month when she was the first woman to cross the finish line of the Melbourne Marathon.
More than 50,000 people competed in the event, a sign of the increasing popularity of long distance running but also an indication of the long odds of placing, let alone winning.
Caitlin had completed a half marathon on the Gold Coast a few months earlier, finishing second in the women’s event and giving her the confidence to build up to the 42.2km distance over a seven week period.
The 28-year-old South Australian’s love of running began when she was a student at St Mary MacKillop School at Wallaroo.
“I competed in an interschool 800m event when I was in Year 5 or 6, that was a formative experience,” Caitlin told The Southern Cross.
“I didn’t know I was any good and ended up winning, so that gave me the spark and I have kept going ever since.
“At that point my training consisted pretty much running around the block.”
Caitlin also competed in cross country competitions while at St Mary MacKillop and played a wide range of sports including netball, tennis and basketball. When she moved to Kadina Memorial School in Year 8, her running began to take priority.
“In high school I took it more seriously and got selected in a sports program with coaching sessions by correspondence,” she said. “I used to run around the Wallaroo football oval for training.”
Through her involvement in the Team Tempo running group, she met Olympic marathon runner Jess Stenson and she lived with her for a year when she first lived in Adelaide while studying teaching.
She said Jess was an “amazing human being” and had been a great inspiration and mentor for her.
Jess paced her for the first half of the Melbourne Marathon (having completed the recent Sydney marathon it was too soon for Jess to do another).
“I learnt a lot from her, she is marathon royalty, so it was awesome to have her pace me for 20km,” Caitlin said.
“The pacer makes sure you don’t go too hard early and takes some of the mental load off,” Caitlin explained. “They block the wind and grab a water bottle for you.”
Caitlin’s mum and dad, who live in Wallaroo were also there to support her in Melbourne.
“They love coming – they drove to Melbourne last year to watch me in the half marathon and when I told them I was doing the full marathon they said they couldn’t miss that so they drove again,” she said.
There has been lots of messages of congratulations from her hometown which she described as “a very tight knit community”.
Caitlin took a day off after the marathon but then had to return to her “day job” as a secondary school teacher in Adelaide.
“I just tried to soak it all up,” she said of the “whirlwind” few days after the event.
Her other achievements to date have been making the World Cross Country Championships held in Australia in 2023 and competing in the World Road Running Championships in Latvia.
But she said nothing topped winning the marathon on debut, not to mention the $25,000 prize money.
“That’s not the normal thing,” she quickly added. “I get some shoe and apparel sponsorship through Team Tempo but I definitely have to work.”
Not surprisingly, Caitlin has her sights set on running another marathon but in the meantime she will have a short break before competing in trials in late November for the World Cross Country Championships in Florida.
“So there are a few things to look forward to,” she said. “But I definitely think marathons are my thing, I felt really calm and confident.”
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