The eyes of the athletics nation turned to the north-west coast of Tasmania for the Australian 10km Road Running Championships this morning, where Leanne Pompeani and Adam Goddard flexed their range to reign supreme in the Strait Link Burnie 10.
In temperamental conditions, it was the in-form Goddard (SA, Riley Cocks) who patrolled the coastline at the front of the field after Irish Olympian Brian Fay got the race rolling, with the 22-year-old South Australian pouring on the pace well before the turnaround to dismantle the lead pack.
A World University Games representative over 1500m, Goddard’s closing speed proved the difference in shaking off a valiant challenge from the aerobic engine of Ed Marks (VIC, self-coached) who contributed to the hot pace – Goddard stretching away to win the Australian title and $5000 in a time of 28:36 by a margin of one second.
“That was really hard. We got to like seven kilometres and I just thought the slower it is, the better it is for me because I back my kick. It was good fun!” Goddard said.
“It’s super special. I was pretty good as a junior but had a pretty bad few years there, and the sport can be so cruel and tough to deal with at times. To find this purple patch, it means so much and I got pretty emotional coming into the line.
“The boys take the piss out of me at home because I celebrate too hard, but the emotions just come over me every time I come through that line, knowing what it’s taken to get here and how hard I have worked.”
Matthew Buckell (VIC, Andrew Buchanan) rounded out the Australian Championships podium in 29:01 for bronze, behind Goddard (28:36) and Marks (28:37), while Ireland’s Fay was the third man across the line in 28:47.
Road running sensation Leanne Pompeani (NSW, Des Proctor) also took home the Australian title and $5000 as the first woman across the line, albeit in less dramatic fashion due to her dominance.
Pompeani blitzed the star-studded field of Olympians including Genevieve Gregson (QLD, Nic Bideau) and Sinead Diver (VIC, Nic Bideau), blazing her way to a time of 31:46 to narrowly miss her own course record of 31:40 set last year.
The Australian representative finished 60-seconds ahead of emerging talent Bronte Oates (NSW, Katie St Lawrence) in 32:46, while Holly Campbell (ACT, Jeremy Roff) claimed bronze in 33:02.
“Back-to-back, I can’t complain! I can complain about being so close to the course record but that’s alright,” Pompeani said.
“We went out quick but that usually happens when you are going downhill for the first kilometre. I felt a little bit off for the first four kilometres, as runners you can tell when you’re not super snappy and firing, and I thought maybe it was going to be a rough day.”
Pompeani, who was the first Australian woman to cross the line at August’s TCS Sydney Marathon, rallied to claim her second consecutive title in Burnie and be crowned the Australian champion:
“It always means a lot, especially over the road 10k which are probably my favourite races to run. To have that and the marathon Australian titles is pretty good.”
Full results from the 41st edition of the Strait Link Burnie 10 and Australian 10km Road Running Champions can be found HERE, with Australia’s elite distance runners leading the way for over 3000 participants.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 26/10/2025
