Kent Ohori ran a 2:29 marathon holding an unlit cigarette but the real story is how he went from heavy smoker to endurance machine.
At the 2025 Gold Coast Marathon, Kent Ohori turned heads not just for clocking a blazing 2:29 finish time, but for doing so while gripping an unlit cigarette in his hand.
Averaging 3:32 per kilometer, the Australian endurance athlete wasn’t clowning around. The cigarette wasn’t a gimmick it was a symbol.
“This fake cigarette? It’s more than just a prop,” Ohori shared after the race. “It’s a reminder that transformation is always within reach.
We can all become something far greater than what we once were.”
Just eight years ago, Ohori was smoking a pack a day and had never run a race, let alone trained for a triathlon.
t was a running injury that unexpectedly set him on a new path. Unable to run, he picked up swimming and cycling.
That shift launched a journey that would redefine his identity as an athlete.
In 2020, Ohori shocked many by qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona on his first attempt at the full Ironman distance.
Then in 2022, he went on to set a record in the grueling Everestman challenge: completing a full Everest of elevation (8,848 meters) across swimming, biking, and running.
It took him 40 punishing hours during Brisbane’s peak summer heat.
By comparison, the Gold Coast Marathon may have felt like a breeze. But the message he carried was weighty.
The 2:29 finish is a breakthrough for Ohori, who credits the performance to six months of guidance under coach Matt Hanson and his choice of footwear the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2s.
“I wasn’t sponsored,” he clarified. “I just tested a bunch of shoes, and these were the best.”
Still, the run was never about the gear.
For Ohori, it’s about endurance in every sense about staying in the game, embracing discomfort, and allowing the long arc of dedication to reshape what’s possible.
From heavy smoker to Ironman, from Everestman to sub-2:30 marathoner, Ohori's path proves that growth doesn't follow a straight line but it always moves forward.
As he wrote in his post-race reflection: “This is just the beginning.”
If the Gold Coast was a glimpse of what’s ahead, Kent Ohori’s story is far from over.
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