Brisbane-based Kent Ohori went viral last week when photos of him running the Gold Coast Marathon with a fake cigarette in his hand travelled around the world. He even made it onto Runner’s World Italia’s Instagram feed, where some of the commenters were none too impressed.

Perhaps lacking the context that it wasn’t a real durry, one reader wrote, “I would have disqualified him immediately and would never allow him to participate in a sporting event again!”

Which would be a shame, because Kent has gone from being a pack-a-day smoker to a front-of-pack killer.

A triathlete as well as a runner, he was the outright amateur winner of last year’s Ironman Japan and just ran his first sub-2:30 marathon at Gold Coast. Kent has said that the prop is his way of saluting the fact that “we all have the power to change, to grow, and to become more than we ever imagined”.

The fake cigarette might be a gimmick but, as we found out, there’s real depth to Kent’s story and why he’s launched his triathlon community, Rebound Club.

THE NIGHTCLUB YEARS

Kent’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. Through his twenties, his world revolved around Brisbane’s nightclub scene, where he worked as a DJ and promoter. “I started DJing and then started running my own nightclub parties,” he explains. “We were bringing over DJs from around the world and selling them to festivals and shows at clubs around Australia and New Zealand.”

It was an exciting time to be in the industry. “I started back when What So Not and Flume and all those guys were getting really popular,” Kent recalls. “We would book Dom Dolla, who’s a good mate of mine; we used to pay him 500 bucks.”

But the lifestyle that came with the territory was far from healthy. “My job revolved around nightclubs in the entertainment industry. That resulted in a lot of smoking, a lot of partying and drinking and all the bad things,” Kent says. “I’ve got a very addictive personality, so when I started smoking, I gave it my all. I was definitely a pack-a-day smoker and if we would go out, we would smoke even more.”

The wake-up call came during a business trip to Southeast Asia in 2016–2017. “I remember coming back on a flight from Singapore and just feeling my belly and being like, ‘Man, I’m so unfit!’” Kent recalls. “I just remember telling myself on the flight, ‘I’m getting off this flight and I’m going to go buy some shoes and I’m going to run. No matter what.’”

“And that was the start,” he says. At first he’d just hammer 5km runs, with no understanding of pacing or heart rate zones. “I just ran as hard as I could for 5km and almost vomited and almost gave up, too. I was like, ‘This is way too hard. I don’t want to do this.’”

Kent, it should be said, wasn’t a complete stranger to sport and exercise. He had played soccer in school and was on the cross country team; he even continued to play a bit of indoor soccer during his entertainment industry years, his self-admitted vices notwithstanding. And he may have blessed genes: his mum was “pretty athletic” when she was young, and his uncle made it to nationals in cross country.

So the 5Ks grew. Soon a friend introduced him to Strava and the benefits of being able to see progress and feel like part of a community. With his mate, Kent’s first big event was the Sunshine Coast Half Marathon in August 2018, followed by the Noosa Half in May 2019.

A FATHER’S LOVE AND LOSS

Around this time, seeking to distance himself from the nightclub scene, Kent had moved into hospitality, becoming a business partner in a Brisbane restaurant group. He brought his father over from Japan to help open a Japanese restaurant, reuniting after years of separation. “He was Japanese and was a pretty established chef over there,” Kent explains.

Tragically, not long after, his father passed away in his sleep due to an underlying heart condition. “That was obviously a difficult time in my life,” Kent says. “The only thing that really got me through that was having that goal and training for the marathon.”

Kent had signed up for his first 42km event, the 2019 Gold Coast Marathon, which became more than just a race; it was a lifeline. “Exercise really helped me through excessive alcohol as well, trying to deal with that grief,” he reflects. “I was becoming more confident in myself and there was so much more I was gaining from exercise than just a goal or a time. I just craved that feeling.”

Kent’s debut time of 3:09 was impressive, but the real victory was internal. “When I completed that, it felt like such a massive accomplishment. I did go through a lot of struggles and overcome a lot of barriers to push myself to get to the finish line, and that was such an amazing feeling.” Reflecting on this period now, Kent is at peace. “Looking back at it now, I can say there were a lot of signs that it was meant to be. I’m not really spiritual – well, I feel like I’m a lot more spiritual now that all this stuff’s happened, because I feel like it was meant to happen.

“Obviously, it’s not nice that someone passes away, but it’s part of life. And if all that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be where I am now, so I think he’s really proud of me. And I’m proud of myself for being able to embark on this journey.”

THE TRIATHLON PIVOT

But marathon success came with a price. Kent suffered a stress reaction after his debut, forcing him to find alternative training methods. “I got injured and my mate got me onto a bike and then we started riding,” he says. This led to his first Olympic-distance triathlon – that’s a 1500m swim, a 40km bike and a 10k run – at Mooloolaba in March 2020.

The progression was rapid. That same year, Kent followed Mooloolaba with a half Ironman and then the full Ironman test: a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike and a full marathon. “I went from zero, from starting to swim, to doing my first Ironman in September, where I qualified for the world champs,” Kent explains. “I went under 10 hours in my first Ironman, which was a big goal.”

Last year’s Ironman Japan victory was the pinnacle of his triathlon career. “I was chasing the leaders and on the run I caught first and second place. They had 12 minutes on me from the bike transition and I overtook first and second place with like 5ks to go on the run,” he recalls. “Very surreal moment.”

Along the way, Kent has found creative ways to combine his athletic pursuits with entertainment. At the 2024 Melbourne Marathon, he unofficially broke the Guinness World Record for “fastest marathon in a beer can costume”, finishing in 3:22:16 — more than 12 minutes faster than the previous record. “I built this massive 6kg beer can thing,” he says of the costume that had to meet strict regulations, including extending down to his knees.

BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH FITNESS

Kent’s personal transformation sparked a desire to help others. After his first Ironman, “I came back and I felt this urge that I needed to do something that wasn’t just serving food to people,” he says. “I thought I needed to create a platform, a community, that other people could join and feel supported through their tough times.”

Rebound Club was born from this vision. What started as a run club has evolved into a comprehensive triathlon community as Kent’s own interests have shifted. “Now it’s primarily a triathlon club, but we also do running as well,” Kent explains. “We’ve got training sessions every day here in Brisbane. We’ve got four coaches and swims and runs and bikes all over the place.”

The club serves both local athletes and a global network, including members in Melbourne and Japan. But it’s more than just training — it’s about creating connections and supporting people through difficult times, just as exercise supported Kent through his grief.

Alongside Rebound Club, Kent works part-time with Traction, a not-for-profit organisation. “They work with disengaged youth, working with schools all around southeast Queensland,” he explains. “We work with these students throughout the term, through a bike-building process and teaching them life skills and confidence.”

A RETURN TO RUNNING

This year marked Kent’s return to focusing purely on running, a decision partly driven by the time commitment of Ironman training. “For Ironman Japan, I was probably training around 17 to 24 hours a week,” he says. “For Gold Coast Marathon, I was running six times a week, six or seven times a week, and two gym sessions – probably like 11–12 hours max, which is about half of what I was doing for Ironman Japan.”

The lighter load allowed him to focus on other aspects of his life – such as growing Rebound Club – while still pushing his limits. His peak week included 114 kilometres of running, and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the process. “I’ve really enjoyed this whole running experience over the last six months,” he says.

Going into Gold Coast, Kent wasn’t certain about his 2:30 target. “I honestly didn’t know if I could or not,” he admits. His benchmark was his Ironman Japan marathon leg, coming after an 180km ride: “I did a 2:53 off the bike in an Ironman. If you could do a 2:53 off the bike, I just thought maybe I’d be low 2:30s for a marathon.”

RACE DAY EXECUTION

Kent’s race strategy was beautifully simple: “My goal from the start was just to stay with the pack until 25km and see how I felt. If I felt good, I just kept going.” In the starting corral, he found the 2:29 pacer and stuck with him religiously. “I didn’t even look at my watch. I had 5km splits on, which I didn’t even really look at.”

The plan worked perfectly. “Slowly but surely, everyone just dropped off and it was just me and one other guy, with probably 27km in,” Kent recalls. His only concern was cramping, which had limited him in previous Ironman races. “I was wondering when I would start to cramp and that’s the limiting factor that’s always stopped me from running faster,” he says.

The cramping held off until 36 kilometres, just as the pacer dropped off. “It was just me and this other guy. We just took 1km turns,” Kent explains. With three kilometres to go, he let his companion push on alone for an even faster time, knowing he had his own goal within reach. He slowed just slightly as he felt the first signs of cramping, but it never got really bad.

At the 40-kilometre fuelling station, Kent collected his prepared prop along with his personal bottle. “I had an empty Maurten drink mix sachet that was taped on the side of the bottle and it had two fake cigarettes in it,” he explains. “I just had to make sure to slow down so I could get that and get it all ready.”

The final two kilometres became a celebration as Kent crossed the line in 2:29:08. “It couldn’t have worked out any better,” he reflects. “My splits were literally just dead even. I couldn’t have asked for a better race.”

THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE GIMMICK

The fake cigarette wasn’t just a stunt — it was Kent’s way of illustrating his transformation. “It’s just a symbol of the fact that who you are now doesn’t have to be who you are in the future,” he explains. “If you told me back in 2016 when I was smoking and not running that I’d be where I am now, I would have told you you’re crazy.”

“I’ve never felt better — mentally, I feel so happy. I feel confident,” Kent says. “It’s just leading by example and showing others that you can believe in yourself and be who you can be because we all have the power to be whoever we want to be.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Kent’s future lies in exploring how far he can push his running while maintaining the cross-training approach that’s served him well. “I really want to see how far I can get with running. To see if I can get into the low 2:20s,” he says. “I want to focus on some marathons next year. Might even do some international ones.”

He’s particularly interested in using cycling and swimming as lower-impact training tools, mentioning US runner Cooper Teale as an example of an elite embracing bike-based cross-training. “Being able to aerobically build that resilience through cycling, which is a lot less of an injury risk,” he explains. “The thing that’s scary with running is injuries. So many runners get injured, but triathletes don’t get injured as much.”

While he’ll step back from Ironman racing – the 34-year-old thinks he’s already a bit too old to consider turning professional – Kent plans to continue with sprint-distance triathlons: 750m swim, 20km ride, 5km run. “I love triathlon, but the time it takes to actually do it well is just a bit too much,” he says. “I would love to just focus on running at the moment.”

Above all, Kent wants to keep making exercise accessible and fun. “My lifelong mission now is just trying to promote exercise and fun in different ways, to strip away the ego and just have fun,” he says. Whether it’s running in a beer can costume or finishing a marathon with a fake cigarette, Kent’s approach is refreshingly honest about the joy that can be found in pushing your limits.

From the nightclub floors of Brisbane to the finish line at Gold Coast, Kent’s journey proves that transformation is possible at any stage of life. His fake cigarette might not be to everyone’s taste, but the real message is clear: we all have the power to rewrite our story, one step at a time.