No one beats father time, but Michael Roeger plans on taking him 12 rounds. The Paralympian feels more like a debutant than a veteran approaching 2027, following a year on the roads and time with his growing family.
Roeger has spent his whole career furiously trying to knock out father time out in the first round. Over two decades devoted to fine-tuning his uppercut and hook, and less than a minute on his defence or self-preservation.
But at 38-years-old, he is starting to see the beauty in the fight. The beauty in going the distance.
“The first half of my career was all about me and winning the gold medal. The goal hasn’t changed, but I’m going to enjoy it and bring the family along for the ride,” Roeger says.
“I’m really lucky to be supported at the Australian Institute of Sport, because I would hate to see the medical bill for my career.”
Marathons and two children under the age of 18 months make most age faster, but Roeger is bucking the trend, which speaks volumes to the weight he was placing on his performance previously.
“Maybe in the past I have put too much pressure on myself and beat myself up a bit,” Roeger says.
“Now I get home and the kids don’t care what time I ran. It’s hard to explain that feeling of opening the door and seeing how happy they are no matter what.”
His 63:18 half marathon performance on the Gold Coast in July made him the fastest Paralympian in history over the distance, before the arrival of Maverick in August made him a father of two.
The icing on the cake was a personal best of 2:18:36 at the TCS Sydney Marathon as Roeger said goodbye to the roads, for now, as the 2027 World Para Athletics Championships and 2028 Paralympic Games loom.
“It’s not a Paralympic event for me anymore and maybe a few people thought I shouldn’t be doing it, but it was a race that I wanted to do for myself because it’s my passion,” Roeger says.
“The longest distance available for me at the World Para Championships or Paralympic Games is the 1500m, so that’s what I’ll do because I want to wear that singlet whenever I can.”
Roeger is no slouch at the 1500m either as the T46 world record holder and a Paralympic silver medallist, spending time training alongside Australian record holder Cameron Myers and Jye Edwards in Flagstaff this year.
“I grew so much from training with those boys. I went to another level,” Roeger says.
“They just gave me confidence in my running that I haven’t had for a long time. Cam is such a professional in every sense of the word.
“He got back to Canberra the other day and flicked me a message to link up for a run, so it’s good to know that hopefully I can still offer the young lads some wisdom.”
Training alongside fellow Paralympians Angus Hincksman and Jaryd Clifford in Canberra, the group punch in the kilometres under the guidance of Philo Saunders with one common goal in mind.
“We are all chasing the elusive gold medal, even Philo as a coach. We know that we have been good enough to do it, but the hardest thing to do is line it all up and that’s what we’re going all in on,” Roeger says.
Roeger won his first minor medal in the 1500m T46 at the 2013 World Championships and his Paralympic silver in 2024 brought his total to seven – none of which are gold.
“The two things that have kept me going are my love of the sport and maybe winning that gold medal one day,” Roeger says.
That quest will begin by starting January, the next round, with a clean bill of health.
His wife Lauren and two kids, Maverick and Violet, will be in his corner until the final bell rings.
“I’ve got an amazing wife and a whiz-bang running pram which I take the kids out in a couple of times a week, it’s like a Ferrari,” Roeger says.
“Sleeping is obviously interrupted and you might pick up a bit of sickness, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Father time smiles on as Roeger ducks and weaves for the first time. This one is going the distance.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 15/10/2026
