Elite long-distance runner all set for coastal town's burgeoning marathon

Edwards, who celebrated his first-ever win at the 2023 Melbourne Marathon with a time of 2:14:35 , is among several elite athletes set to line up in the third annual Port Fairy Marathon and Community Running Festival on February 18.

The 33-year-old said Port Fairy reminded him and his wife Michelle of the coastal towns they grew up around in northern New South Wales, including Coffs Harbour and Michelle's smaller hometown of Woolgoolga.

"We did the parkrun (in Port Fairy) and just had a great time," Edwards told The Standard of their maiden visit in September.

"(We) met a few of the locals during that trip and when a few of them said about the marathon, we thought 'why not support a local community and do an event like that'."

Edwards has exceeded his own expectations when it comes to competitive running.

The physiotherapist completed his first marathon in 2018, two years after joining an elite running group in Canberra as a way to get fitter following his university degree.

With a background in field hockey, he ran 2:16 in his first hit out at the prestigious Chicago marathon.

"Running came naturally and quick to me," he said. "It (Chicago) was an unbelievable experience and I was fortunate enough to get an elite start. It was one of the best things I've ever done.

"If you had of told me 12 months before that Chicago marathon, I would have said 'I'm not ever going to be competitive in say a Melbourne Marathon'.

"To be able to win Melbourne, and most of the time when I turn up to a marathon, I can get close to top 10, it's exceeded expectations for sure."

Since his debut marathon, Edwards has raced across Europe during a stint living in London, his PB of 2:13 achieved in the Netherlands city of Rotterdam.

"London was phenomenal, a great running scene," he said. "It had a lot of people like myself who work and run, so you had heaps of training partners who were elite level runners."

Edwards has ran a sub-2:20 in eight of his 10 marathon attempts, with one of his toughest runs a ninth-place finish and 2:26 time in Singapore due to the heat.

Returning to Australia and settling in Melbourne 18 months ago, Edwards has enjoyed the city's running scene and lifestyle, though he and Michelle plan to eventually move back up north.

With two third-place finishes already to his name at the Melbourne Marathon, Edwards was elated to finally finish on top in October, 2023.

"I always knew I could be up there but I thought Liam (Adams) - it was definitely his race - but the way he raced it and just misjudged his pacing helped me," he said.

"The win was definitely very unexpected (but) definitely the best running moment I've ever had.

"And it ended up being so much bigger than I thought it'd be... to win it there was a really big reaction which was really nice."

After welcoming first child, son Oliver, with Michelle three months ago, Edwards' running habits have shifted.

Instead of running mornings, he adds time to his afternoon runs home from work, which total between 20-25km.

"We're very busy (but) it still seems to be working," he said.

Edwards will back up his Port Fairy marathon run, set on a fast and flat course, by contesting the Osaka Marathon in Japan a week later.

"I'm going back-to-back in weekends," he said. "I'm hoping to to have a good solid hit-out and run a decent time in Port Fairy and hoping to maybe run a PB in Osaka where the weather's a bit colder."