Ambitious Jess Trengove is already dreaming of bigger things after producing the best-ever performance by an Australian female marathoner at a world championships.
Running only her third marathon, the 25-year-old from Adelaide charged home in the second half of the race held on a steamy hot Moscow day to claim 11th spot in a time of two hours 37 minutes and 11 seconds.
It bettered the effort of one of Trengove's idols, the late Kerryn McCann, who was 15th at the 1995 world titles.
Kenyan Edna Kiplagat became the first woman to successfully defend the marathon world title, breaking away from Italy's Valeria Straneo in the final two kilometres to win in 2:25:44.
Straneo held on for second, with the bronze medal going to Kayoko Fukushi of Japan.
By finishing inside the top 24, Trengove guaranteed herself a spot on the team for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, while the 2016 Rio Olympics are firmly on the agenda.
"My coach Adam Didyk has always taught me to dream big," said Trengove.
"He's shown a lot of belief in me along the way.
"I've got some big goals and the performance today is promising in taking small steps towards achieving them."
During the race, Trengove spent some time wondering how her younger brother Jack was getting on playing for Melbourne in their AFL clash with Gold Coast.
She was disappointed to learn that the Demons co-captain had suffered another loss in what has been a miserable season for the club, but pleased to have given her family something to celebrate.
"It was tough conditions actually and my aim was not to get passed in the second half, to run through the field and that's what I did," said Trengove.
"I'll go back to Australia really happy and really excited for the future.
"I didn't know what to expect today, but I knew I had to run smart, given the heat."
Lauren Shelley was 40th in 2:55:40, while fellow Australian Nikki Chapple required medical attention after crossing the line in 45th place in 3:05:49.
The fourth Australian, Jane Fardell, was among the 23 competitors in the field of 69 who failed to finish the race.
