Most runners spend the week before a marathon resting. Saiyami Kher spent hers diving, surfing, snorkelling and rock climbing across Queensland, then lined up for the Gold Coast Marathon anyway.The actor completed the race this past weekend, her latest stop in what’s become an unusual personal tradition: running a marathon or half marathon in every country she visits. For Kher, race day isn’t the point of the trip – it’s the last chapter of it.The Gold Coast Marathon made for a fitting venue. Now in its 46th edition, it’s the only race in Australia to hold World Athletics Label status, road racing’s top distinction. The course is also famously flat, with just 62 metres of elevation change over the full distance – a big reason nearly 60% of finishers walk away with a personal best.Kher wasn’t one of them, by design. She’s currently training for her third half Ironman and treated Gold Coast as a training run rather than a race to peak for. “I wasn’t chasing a time on this race because I was recovering from an ankle injury but for anyone chasing a PB this is a great course to choose!” she said.Still, the experience clearly landed. “The Gold Coast marathon was a dream because it was the perfect weather and has to be one of the most scenic runs I have ever done. I feel Gold Coast in general is a very fit city so the energy and runners at the race was incredible,” she said, adding that she’s already planning to return next year.She also connected the race to her broader training arc: “I am doing another half ironman in 2 months, so this felt like a perfect race to keep my training going.”The trip itself was organised by Tourism Queensland, part of a growing pattern of destination boards partnering with athletes rather than traditional celebrities- betting that lived experience sells a place better than a postcard ever could.For Kher, that experience always ends the same way: at a start line, treating the run as the truest way to see a city, she’s only just arrived in.