Why top Aussie athlete proudly ran a marathon with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

An Australian long-distance runner has opened up on the inspiring reason why he completed the Gold Coast Marathon with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
Kent Ohori rattled off a sensationally fast pace of 3:32/km to staggeringly complete the 42.1km race in two hours and 29 minutes.
And while the former nightclub DJ sent togues wagging for bounding his way around the course with a cigarette in his mouth, he revealed there was a wider message to the stunt.
'The fake cigarette isn't just a prop,' he wrote on an Instagram post after the race.
'It's a promise that we all have the power to change, to grow, and to become more than we ever imagined.'
'From a pack-a-day smoker to a 2:29 marathon (3:32/km),' he added, celebrating his achievement on Instagram.
'This is just the beginning,' he added.
Speaking to Tempo Journal earlier this year, Ohori opened up on his inspiring journey, revealing that he had worked in nightclubs before he got into endurance sports.
'My job revolved around nightclubs in the entertainment industry. That resulted in a lot of smoking, a lot of partying and drinking,' he said to the Tempo Journal.
He revealed he began running back in 2017, noting that he had become unfit.
Ohori began running distances of around 5km, but added that he had little understanding of race pace.
'I just ran as hard as I could for 5km and almost vomited and almost gave up, too. I was like: 'This is way too hard. I don't want to do this',' he explained. But he kept going.
Ohori would continue to progress in the sport.
In 2019, he was rocked by the tragic and sudden passing of his father.
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He explained to Tempo Journal that exercise and training for a marathon helped him get through that tough period.
Ohori, who is the founder of the Rebound Club, a global triathlon community that hosts training sessions, later qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona in 2020.
He would also go on to smash the record for the Everestman triathlon challenge in 2022, before going on to be crowned the outright winner of last year's Ironman Japan.
'It's been a wild four years of somewhat inconsistent triathlon training, and I couldn't have dreamed of it to lead to this result as my last race for a while (I swear by it this time),' he wrote on Instagram, following that victory.
'Of all places to achieve this result, it was in Japan, a place which means so much to me. I got into Triathlons at a very low point in my life and for it to end like this on such a high is crazy!
'I've always considered myself as an underdog and I also race like one. We all have our own mental battles we deal with in life and full distance Ironman racing has taught me so much about overcoming our own insecurities.'