Deek's golden day Deeks these days, with the Indigenous Marathon Project team before a training run in New York's Central Park. Photo: Trevor Collens Brisbane had risen early on October 8, 1982. The city was firmly in the grip of Commonwealth Games fever, in an era when the event still carried a high degree of cachet with the Australian public. It was the second-last day of the Games, which began with a giant kangaroo called Matilda motoring around the old QEII Stadium, bellowing forth a hoard of joeys from her belly in what, until this point, was the most memorable scene from the event. All of that was about to change. The marathon had started at 6am, with runners pacing themselves in the already humid spring. Robert "Deeks" De Castella celebrates victory in the men's marathon at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. The 42.1-kilometre course began on Stanley Street, passing the brand new Cultural Centre and over Victoria Bridge. After weaving through city streets and Fortitude Valley, the field headed north, along Kingsford Smith Drive towards the Brisbane Airport. At that point, they retraced their path towards the University of Queensland. It was on the path back towards the city that pre-race favourite Rob De Castella began to make his move. The race had thus far been dictated by Tanzanians Gidamis Shahanga and Juma Ikangaa, who had pulled away from the field and led a chasing pack by 250 metres at one point. Rob De Castella passes Tanzania's Ikangaa on the way to victory in the men's marathon at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. Slowly, De Castella closed. By the time he set foot on Coronation Drive, where men in business suits were still spilling out of the Regatta Hotel after all-night sessions, the pace had quickened. With Shahanga accounted for, "Deek" pounced on the pacesetter. That part of the race for me back in '82 was just incredible. That was when I saw the two Tanzanians and that was where I ran Juma Ikangaa down. We had a great tussle just past The Regatta Hotel," De Castella remembers. The people outside of the pub, I think some of them had been there all night. They were standing there in suits. It was just an amazing experience for me as a young runner just starting my progress on to the world stage. Ikangaa yielded but De Castella still had work to complete. The Tanzanian fought back, retaking the lead as they headed for Southbank, before De Castella lengthened his stride, pumping his fists and storming over the line in the number 28 singlet for a famous victory. It was the win that catapulted him on to the world stage and one he remembers as fondly as any of his major triumphs. He went on to win 1983's IAAF World Championship gold and beat a field of champions in Rotterdam later that year. One of the standout memories for De Castella's Brisbane victory was the mass of people on Coronation Drive, which has only been closed to traffic a handful of times since being opened in 1937. The City2South on Sunday, June 16, will be the next occasion, with one lane exclusively for competitors. One of the things that sticks in my mind is one of my good friends, after the Commonwealth Games, he did a big story on it all. And the headline was 'Deek crowned on Coronation Drive'," De Castella said. As the escort vehicle that was 10 or 20 metres in front of me, as it got closer, the crowd just parted like the Red Sea. It was a wall of people I was running into but they just opened up and let me through. The atmosphere was just amazing. That was my first big race win and the fact that the marathon was on the second last day of the Games, everyone was right in the mood. The event just captivated the city. And it was free. People came out in their droves from 6am. De Castella returns to Brisbane regularly. Any drive down Coronation Drive, now an even busier inner-city thoroughfare, sends the memories flooding back, as does the landmark Regatta Hotel. Brisbane still has the odd remnant of the thin blue line, which marked the 1982 marathon course around the city.