Kenyan runner Robert Mwangi wants to win Gold Coast Marathon for fallen friend Alemayehu Shumye Kenyan Marathon runner Robert Mwangi has vowed to win this year's Gold Coast Marathon in honour of his friend and last year's race winner, who died this year. Picture: Luke Marsden Source: News Limited LAST year they crossed the finish line side-by-side before standing together on the podium. Now Kenyan giant Robert Mwangi can feel his mate Alemayehu Shumye watching from above as he aims to take out this weekend's Gold Coast Marathon. Winner of last year's Gold Coast race, Shumye died in a car crash in his native Ethiopia in January. Mwangi, the 2012 runner-up, broke down in tears on Thursday as he told of his desire to win Sunday's race and set a course record, in honour of his fallen mate. "We promised each other last year that we would come back here," Mwangi said. It's still hard to accept that he is gone but that only gives me more energy to win this race. Picture: Luke Marsden I know if he was still here he would be trying to win, but also supporting me as well, so I hope his energy can help me. I know I can win this race if God wills it. The 26-year-old said he had spoken on the telephone with Shumye just a week before he died. "We talked about either me moving to Ethiopia or him moving to Kenya so we could train together," he said. I found out (about his death) on Facebook. It was a massive shock. Last year's second placing was a career highlight for Mwangi, who has a personal best time of 2:10:04, set in Prague two years ago. With a clear run he believes he can shave five minutes off that time to smash the Gold Coast record of 2:10:01, set by countryman Nicholas Kamakya two years ago. "The race record will be broken this year," Mwangi said. If not by me, then by somebody else. This is the strongest field that the Gold Coast has ever had. This year's Gold Coast Marathon, the 35th since it started in 1979, has attracted almost 30,000 competitors across eight categories and is one of the city's biggest events. Support classes including the 2km junior dash and 10km fun run will be held on Saturday, with the men's and women's marathons and the wheelchair races, on Sunday.