“I’ll dry off and we’ll have a big hug. He doesn’t understand what it’s all about today, but I’m sure these experiences will be an important part of his development. It means a lot,” he said.
That winning sensation: Jessican Stenson. Credit: AP
Since her last bronze medal, Stenson has married (she used to be Trengove), had Billy and says motherhood has made her a better runner.
“I am a more relaxed runner as a mother. I can just enjoy the process a little more. I wasn’t really thinking about the result today, I was just trying to clock every 5k and that’s what you do as a mum, you can’t think too far ahead, it’s just one moment at a time and you can’t control it. I just have to respond to what’s going on and I think that gives women a lot of strength as parents,” Stenson said.
“I was trying to juggle emotion and concentration (in the closing stages, when it was clear I was well ahead and close to winning). These roads can be bumpy and it only takes one small step to land on my face and not get up again I just had to surrender to the finish line.
Australia’s Eloise Wellings leads Australia’s Jessica Stenson during the Women’s Marathon on day two of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, EnglandCredit: PA
“I was coming into the home straight and I saw the 1K to go sign off and I thought ‘you’ve got to be kidding’. It was a long final K. I kept fooling myself, saying ‘this is the final hill, no, this it’s the final hill’ and they kept coming.”
Now he has time to celebrate with a burger and maybe a cheeky beer.
Australia’s three marathoners finished in the top five after Stenson joined Eloise Wellings in fourth in 2:30:51 and veteran Sinead Diver, 45, fifth in 2:31:06.
Earlier, Liam Adams produced an outstanding performance in the men’s marathon to lead most of the race and finish just seven seconds off the podium in fourth place.
A full-time trader in Melbourne, he’d never seen the course before, his app wasn’t working so he hadn’t worked the route and was then dismayed to discover when confronted with it that there was a long, punishing climb. the last five kilometers.
“It’s tough, but I’ll take it, I’m pretty proud of this race, these guys are professionals, I’m a fan, I work 40 hours a week, but no, it probably works 40 hours a week.” Adams said he was in his third Commonwealth Games and ran in the last two Olympics.
“These guys are world class guys 2:05 2:06 I’m not in their league. I just thought I was trying to stay with them and hold them off and I did well considering.”
Adams took the lead for more than half the race because the pace started too slowly. He admitted he probably paid the price later.
Uganda’s Victor Kiplangat won gold in 2:10:55, while Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu won silver and Kenya’s Michael Githae won silver. Adams finished in 2:13:23.
De Rozario continues to dominate with gold
Madison de Rozario running in a wheelchair is like Usain Bolt sprinting in his prime. When he ran he won. When Australia’s wheelchair marathoner competes, she wins.
De Rozario won another gold medal, this one a second Commonwealth marathon gold in a row to go with her twin golds from the Tokyo Paralympics last year, her three world championships golds and then there are countless silver and bronze.
Victory came as Australia’s De Rozario won his marathon in 1 hour 56 minutes, beating England’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper by 3.45 minutes.
All smiles: Madison de Rozario. Credit: Isaac Parkin/PA/AP
“The actual course, however, was one of the hardest marathons I’ve ever run in my life, with the most brutal part of it being the last 5km, which is the cruelest way to have to finish a marathon . Definitely a tough race, I’m definitely feeling it,” de Rozario said.
Likely to win another gold given the long CV and trophy cabinet burst, that he would do so in Birmingham had an even greater sense of expectation given the size of the field.
There were four athletes in the race: two Australians, two English. No bronze medals were awarded due to the size of the field.
“Regardless of the size of the field, it’s an incredibly elite field … yes, it was a small field, but it was a tough race.”
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Meanwhile, Australia’s Jake Lappin finished fifth in the men’s wheelchair marathon in 1:56:21, 15 minutes behind gold medalist Johnboy Smith of England.
Get all the latest news from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games here. We’ll be live blogging the action from 4pm to 10am each day.