Galloway (31), formerly of Dunedin and now a sports and facilities co-ordinator in Christchurch, won the open men’s title last year in a personal best time of 2hr 34min 31sec.
He has been tapering off a weekly training mileage of about 200km for the past three weeks in order to give the Emerson’s-sponsored marathon a good nudge.
Galloway will target a sub-2hr 30min time with the ultimate goal of breaking into the top 10 fastest times in the history of the event.
That time is some 2hr quicker than what he managed on the course for his first marathon in 2015.
He will return to the Dunedin event for the fifth time, having experienced the various course changes since his first marathon, which finished on Watson Park.
"That was probably before I considered myself any sort of runner. I was just trying to finish it then to see what it was like to run in a marathon and tick it off."
Galloway is a big fan of the changes to the course.
"I quite like where it finishes now and the carnival feel about the finish line. It is fast and flat with huge crowd support all around."
After his first taste of marathon running, Galloway began thinking he could cover the distance a little bit faster, and returned to the Dunedin event in 2017, covering the course in 3hr 30min.
This year, he lowered his personal best marathon time to 2hr 30min 54sec in Wellington — finishing third behind Dunedin runner Simon Cromarty — and feels he still has plenty left in the tank.
"There was a little bit of irony with Wellington this year," he said.
"Me and a couple of guys missed a turn. So while I finished on the right side of the ledger last year in Dunedin, after Wellington in June, I think me and the universe are somewhat even now."
A battle with Covid earlier this year played havoc with Galloway’s training schedule but he still clocked a personal best 1hr 13min 20sec for the half-marathon in Christchurch in April.
He also posted tidy times for the 10km (32min 57sec) and 500m (15min 39sec).
"This year has all been about the marathon, though," he said.
"I wanted to run Wellington and come back and run Dunedin. But if I had a primary goal it would have been just Dunedin. In Wellington I wanted to try and finish as high up as possible, whereas with Dunedin my primary goal is to come back and win."
Whatever happens on Sunday, Galloway wants to keep pushing forward for a possible start in next year’s New Zealand championships in April.
The Dunedin Marathon record for the men over all course modifications was set in 2010 by Sam Wreford (Timaru), who clocked 2hr 19min 17sec.
- By Wayne Parsons
Dunedin Marathon
The facts
First held: 1979.
Entries then: 148.
Entries this weekend: 3610 (and
counting).
Marathon: 425 runners, starts Portobello Recreation Reserve 7.30am.All other races start at the Caledonian Ground and follow respective distances to the finish on Anzac Avenue Bridge.
Half-marathon run: 1454 runners, starts 8.45am.
Half-marathon walk: 174 entries, starts 9am.
10km run: 699 runners, starts 9.20am.
10km walk: 333 entries, starts 9.40am.
Open 5km: 525 entries, starts 9.55am.
