It’s shaping up to be fiery racing in the Inspired Signs Cairns 30 with plenty of the 2023 podium lining up again to take on 2 x 15km laps this coming Sunday.

With our biggest Cairns 30 field ever, numbers have flocked to this middle distance. There are a mix of road runners, trails runners and triathletes in amongst the list, and some super high quality athletes that will make the racing interesting.

FEMALES

Both first and second place from the 2023 Cairns 30 are back to take on the 30k again in 2024 with local professional triathlete Sarah Thomas looking to defend her title. Off the back of Challenge Wanaka and Ironman New Zealand in February, Sarah is in hot form and will be hard to beat.

But chasing hard will be local Ironman triathlete Nadine Hunt. Coming off the back of an incredible 12 months including the Ironman World Championships, Nadine is likely to run much faster than 2023 and really challenge for the top step of the podium.

Then there is a string of local women who can be pushing for the podium. Kylie Whitley was fourth in 2023 and, despite some setbacks this year, will be there and there abouts. As will Hannah Mendes who is coming off the back of a sub 3:30 Cairns Marathon in 2023, and Sarah Hession who has taken her running to another level and was fifth in the 50k in 2024.

But the real threat is Abigail White. Having recently moved to Cairns, she has been running sub 20 minute 5k ParkRuns for fun. She also took out the 10k at Cairns Road Runners Cane Toad and Cow Pats (in truly incredible conditions) and is our favourite to take the win.

MALES

Only 2023 third place finisher Jon Camilleri returns to defend their podium in 2024, leaving a wide open race for the 2024 Cairns 30. Despite some setbacks early this year, Jon is just coming in to some fast running form and will no doubt be amongst the think of the action again this year.

Perhaps the biggest threat is all-round athlete Rinaldo Lookene. After winning the Dynamic in a Dress Half Marathon only a few weeks ago, he has shown he is capable of running fast over this kind of distance.

But there are plenty of other men to not count out. Scott Dillon ran an incredible 17 laps at the 2023 Smurf’s BYU – the question is how fast can he run over 30k? And then there is the likes of Craig Armstrong, Karl Latham and David Blakeley who will put up a challenge.

This could be anyone’s race!