Infotainment Factory: Aussie marathon star's 'relief' on road to Paris

After competing in the toughest edition of the world cross-country championships in history, Australian marathon record-holder Brett Robinson has shifted his focus back to the streets of London.

Robinson finished 31st in the world cross-country championships at Bathurst's Mount Panorama and now has eight weeks to finalise his preparation for the London Marathon, to be held on April 23.

The 31-year-old became the sixth Australian to have broken two hours and 10 minutes in a marathon when he achieved the feat at a postponed London Marathon in October last year, posting 2:09:52.

He had an even better run at the Fukuoka Marathon two months later, registering 2:07:31 as he sliced 20 seconds off Robert de Castella's 36-year-old national record.

Robinson has clear goals as he looks ahead to the London race and Paris Olympics marathon, which he qualified for in Fukuoka.

"I still want to get better at marathons. I've run a couple of good ones now, but I want to make sure every one I'm doing is a good one before the Olympics," Robinson told Wide World of Sports.

"Pretty much I'll just do a few more marathons, and hopefully by mid next year I'm nailing every one I do.

"I want to try to run faster again, so break my own record. I think I can run a low 2:06.

"And then at the Olympics going for a top-eight position would be a pretty good goal.

"I feel like I can train a bit harder. What I've been doing is training to run 2:07 with the times I've been running. Now it's training to try running 2:06 and running faster in my reps. But it is kind of just more of the same and just improving on it, feeling better at it."

Robinson will feature in his third Olympic Games as the rings return to Paris for the first time since 1924.

He reached the 5000m final in Rio but has miserable memories of the Tokyo Games, having finished 66th in the marathon as he struggled home in 2:24:04.

He said it was a "big relief" to book his ticket to the Paris Games after the Fukuoka Marathon.

"Now that it's happened so early I can concentrate on getting myself ready for the Olympics," Robinson said.

The fight for the two other positions on the Australian men's marathon team is intense.

Among those vying for selection are Liam Adams, Andy Buchanan, Ed Goddard and Patrick Tiernan.

The battle for spots on the Australian women's marathon team is even hotter, with Jessica Stenson, Lisa Weightman, Eloise Wellings, Ellie Pashley, Milly Clark, Izzi Batt-Doyle, Genevieve Gregson and Leanne Pompeani among the contenders.

One spot on the women's team is already taken after Sinead Diver clocked 2:21:34 in the Valencia Marathon on the same day as Robinson's Fukuoka run. The Ireland-born Australian broke the 16-year-old record owned by Benita Willis.

Robinson will join four of the five fastest marathon runners in history in the London Marathon: Kenenisa Bekele, Kelvin Kiptum, Birhanu Legese and Mosinet Geremew.

The event could also mark the final race of four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah's illustrious career.

"It'll be a good opportunity to run fast," Robinson said.

"It's crazy when you see the entries come out every year and it's just getting better and better. It's good to be in it."

The world cross-country championships in Bathurst are being remembered as the most gruelling edition in history because of the course and wild weather.

Runners tackled a plethora of hills, a muddy billabong, sand and a chicane formed by tyres.

The temperature dropped from 36 degrees to 26 by the time of Robinson's race, but the weather threw down extreme challenges of other kinds for the senior men.

Huge gusts of wind kicked up, causing a dust storm, and incredible strikes of lightning lit up the sky.

Robinson said competing at Mount Panorama was "totally different" to racing a marathon.

"That one (in Bathurst) you just feel like you're going hard the whole time. It's just painful, it hurts," he said.

"Whereas in the marathon you're kind of relaxed for a bit of the race and it's just about saving energy as much as possible.

"In Bathurst, you're just trying to get over hills as hard as you can and be in the race.

"When you hit the wall (in a marathon) you're just running out of energy, whereas in 10km cross-country you're just getting more tired, the hills are damaging you, you get to the top of a hill and your legs are heavy.

"On the first lap (in Bathurst), a tree probably 10m off the course just fell down.

"It was just a crazy race."

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