Sport
16 July, 2026
PB has Carly on top of world
FROM not finishing and being left stricken on a Ballarat road to a triumphant personal best on the sunny Gold Coast, Boort’s running machine Carly Isaac has finally broken through a major marathon barrier.
FROM not finishing and being left stricken on a Ballarat road to a triumphant personal best on the sunny Gold Coast, Boort’s running machine Carly Isaac has finally broken through a major marathon barrier.
Isaac, who less than three months ago dramatically collapsed with heat exhaustion just 200m from the finish of the Ballarat Marathon, finished under the three-hour mark at Surfers Paradise on Sunday.
It was a barrier she had been steadily heading towards and would have beaten if not for her agonising Ballarat mishap in April.
Isaac finished the Gold Coast race in 2:56:56, placing her 641st overall of 12,626 runners.
The Boort A Grade netball coach was the 42nd female to finish and 10th in the 25-29 age group.
Isaac’s run began at 6.15am, and she covered the 42kms at a pace of just over four minutes per km with metronomic consistency - her 5km splits varied by only three seconds over the course of the race.
“I’m on top of the world,” she said on Sunday afternoon.
The sub three-hour time gives her priority starts in many other events, and at 25 Isaac has years ahead of her in marathon running.
She said weather conditions were perfect, and the early start suited her better than the 8am beginning in Ballarat.
“It was hotter in Ballarat, believe it or not,” Isaac said.
While she had a few “low spots” in her run, they didn’t last long and she was able to push through them.
Isaac said she slowed marginally right towards the end, conscious of what had occurred in Ballarat, although she had done specific heat training for this marathon.
Gold Coast was likely the last marathon for the year for the three-time Queen of the Mountain at the famous annual Wycheproof event.
“It’s probably not a good idea to do too many in a year, so I’ll do the Melbourne half-marathon (in October) and try to go sub-80 minutes there,” she said.
Breaking 80 minutes there would also allow her entry to more races in the sub-elite category.
And as for the marathon, an eventual 2:50 run is Isaac’s aim: “Then you’re starting to find out what you’re made of.”
Her older sister Jo – who Carly believes is a more natural runner than her – ran her first marathon on the Gold Coast and finished in a time of 3:34:34.
For now, focus goes back on netball.
“I’m up here until Wednesday, then fly back on Thursday, hopefully in time for netball training,” she said.
“It’s been a bit of a break from it all, but hopefully we can keep giving our young girls a game and head into the finals full steam.”
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