Bumper rock hit Aussie marathon star lives by

Emerging Australian marathon star Ed Goddard loves the Eagles song Life in the Fast Lane, especially the line “everything all the time”.

It sums up to perfection the 24-year-old from Mosman on Sydney’s north shore, who’s set to compete in his first major marathon on Sunday evening (AEST).

When Goddard takes to the start line of the London Marathon, he’ll be aiming to become just the sixth Australian in history to run a marathon in less than two hours and 10 minutes.

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The line “everything all the time” resonates with Goddard because of his unshakeable approach to training and racing, and his larger-than-life personality.

Toughened by a schedule that often hits 180 kilometres in a week, he broke the mould by racing three marathons — the first three of his career — in the space of just five months, clocking 2:15:13 at last December’s Melbourne Marathon, 2:13:45 at April’s Manchester Marathon and 2:14:59 at the Copenhagen Marathon in May.

The ASICS-sponsored athlete is often spotted wearing an outfit embellished with flames, or another sporting red guitars with a red rose, both of which were made just for him by the sportswear juggernaut.

And his love of music, particularly rock ‘n’ roll, might even rival his passion for pounding the bitumen.

As Goddard churns out his gruelling mileage, most of which he chalks up on the streets of Sydney’s north shore, a luscious blonde mullet flaps behind him like a superhero’s cape.

“I guess the main thing is just me being myself,” Goddard told Wide World of Sports.

“I love rock music, I love country rock and I love the showmanship of a frontman in a rock band.

“I really like that stuff and I like embracing that flare and I do it for my own enjoyment as much as anything else. I like doing what makes me happy.

“There’s an Eagles quote in the song Life in the Fast Lane that’s “everything all the time”. I like that phrase because I kind of do like doing what I want all the time, and I think that’s a good way to approach anything.

“With my running, I really enjoy it, I love what I do and I make it work for me, as well.

“I think a lot of people have set-in-stone ideas about how you have to train or how you have to go about things, but I’ve bottled all my best results on just being myself and enjoying it.”

On the first Sunday of September, Goddard won the Sydney Half Marathon in the time of 63:26, smashing the 20-year-old course record by nearly a minute.

Two weeks later he won the Sydney Running Festival Bridge Run, a 10-kilometre event, in 29:22.

“I think if you’re in a good mindset, that’s when it’s going to be most sustainable, you can do it for the most number of years, you can have the most fun with it,” Goddard said.

“Even just being in a good mindset — it produces good hormones in your body. Those endorphins help you recover and put you in a good mindset to go hard. It’s sort of a win-win. The most fun I have with things — that puts me in a good position to get my best performances.

“A lot of people even have the mindset that you shouldn’t listen to music while you run because in races you won’t have music, or it’s not natural … or you need to follow this set plan … but I think a lot of people make it too hard for themselves. If you’re struggling with motivation and you’re depriving yourself of listening to music, or any sort of enjoyment, you’ve got to question whether that’s the right thing to do.”

Goddard will have to chop almost four minutes off his personal best to run the London Marathon in less than two hours and 10 minutes, which to many might seem inconceivable.

But health issues and troubles at nutrition stations have hindered the early days of his marathon career.

A COVID-19 vaccination caused a heart problem that negated his build-up to the Melbourne Marathon, and although he was healthy come race day, his debut marathon set the issue off again.

Robert de Castella, Steve Moneghetti, Derek Clayton, Pat Carroll and Lee Troop are the only Australians to have cracked the 2:10 barrier.

Troop was the most recent to do so, posting 2:09:58 in the 2004 London Marathon.

Goddard will tackle the London Marathon with Brett Robinson, who’s also hoping to slip under the 2:10 mark for the first time and is even eyeing the Australian record: de Castella’s 2:07:51 set in the Boston Marathon of 1986.

“It’d be super cool (to join them),” Goddard said.

“That’s definitely what I want to be.

“I’ve got no doubt I’ll be there at some point in my career, but to do it this early would be the perfect start.”

It’s common for long-distance runners to focus on the track, cross-country and shorter road events over many years before making the jump to the marathon in their 30s.

Similarly to de Castella and Moneghetti, Goddard is bucking the trend.

“They both had great careers,” Goddard said.

“When you think of Australian distance athletes, you think Australia’s marathoners are at the top of that.

“I definitely look up to them a lot.

“But at the same time, it’s kind of crazy that no Australian has run that quick for the marathon recently.

“I’d love to get in that ballpark and forge a career of my own, as well … at this age you’re looking for that first sort of few breakthroughs to make your mark, and then once you’ve made your mark you can consolidate a bit.”

Goddard is a cricket tragic, so there’s no surprise he squeezed a cricket analogy into the interview with Wide World of Sports.

“In cricket, if you’re playing first grade and (at) state level, you’re looking to make your debut in the national team,” he said.

“Once you get your spot you can really sort of forge your career.

“I’m at the part where you’re looking for that big double hundred for New South Wales that gets you picked for the next Ashes tour.”

The high-energy marathon young gun is ready to go.

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