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Jack Rayner made his marathon debut in April at the Virgin Money London Marathon, where he clocked an Olympic Games qualifying time of 2:11:06 and finished in 14th place. Rayner continued his fine form at July’s Gold Coast Half Marathon, where he secured the victory in 1:02:30 to better his time from the previous year by 42 seconds.

Beginning in June of 2018, Rayner strung together seven race victories in a row, including a win in the inaugural Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships held last October in Cardiff. He clocked a personal-best half marathon time of 1:01:01 in the process, winning with a late surge in the final mile.

Rayner is a member of the Melbourne Track Club who has drawn media comparisons to Steve Prefontaine because of his baby face and blonde mustache look. In 2017 he surged onto the international scene for the first time when he beat U.S. Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz in the Payton Jordan Invitational 5000 meters B Heat.