Both will compete in the 21.1kilometre half-marathon course on Sunday against thousands of athletes from all around Australia.

It will be the second time Gowing has competed in the event, four years after her first attempt.

“When I ran it four years ago, I didn’t really know what to expect and was sort of overawed by the whole occasion,” she said.

“I’ll be aiming to beat my previous time and run about one hour and 45 minutes this time around.” Huge crowds at the starting line will affect the pair’s rhythm early but Gowing doesn’t think it will faze MacLeod in her first half-marathon.

“Shaye and I have been training together for a long time, so I know that the occasion won’t get the better of her,” she said.

“We do a 25km run together each week, so I know that she has the kilometres in her legs.”

One of Gowing’s biggest regrets from the last race was not linking up with a pacesetter.

“We tried to find the pacesetters before the last race but couldn’t find them,” she said.

“It’s a good way to seed yourself if you have a time in mind that you would like to run.”

MacLeod has quickly become one of Mount Isa’s sharpest runners.

“Shaye has been training hard for about two years and she will certainly start to see results,” Gowing said.

“I’d like to think Shaye can get near the one hour 30 minute mark on Sunday.”

Gowing will use this as a stepping stone in her own training, to the half-ironman on the Sunshine Coast on September 14.

“This will be my first run at this distance with doing the swim or cycle before in a while,” she said.

“It should give me a good indication of where my body is physically ahead of the ironman.”