Lee Troop is out to seal a berth at his fourth successive Olympic Games with a strong performance in Sunday's Gold Coast marathon.

Troop, winner of the 2006 event, will target the London Olympics' qualifying time of two hours and 12 minutes.

If successful, the 38-year-old Victorian will be on course to join Rob de Castella and Steve Moneghetti as the only Australians to have participated in four Olympic marathons.

Troop posted a time of 29:03 a fortnight ago at a 10km warm-up event in Launceston.

Leaving little to chance, Troop is joined in the race by training partners Jason Hartmann and Patrick Rizzo, who travelled from his altitude training base in the United States to be race pacesetters.

The team's early race plan is for Hartmann and Rizzo to take the lead group through halfway in 1:04:30.

Troop would then have the option of staying with the frontrunners or running more conservatively to focus on his Olympic qualifier.

The 22-year-old race record is held by Brad Camp (2:10:11) and organisers have offered a $25,000 bonus if the winner posts a time under 2:10:00.

Several classy African runners are among the favourites to take the extra prizemoney, with 32-year-old Kenyan Jackson Koech boasting a personal best of 2:08:02.

The 2005 winner and triathlete Jackie Fairweather will spearhead Australia's contingent in the women's marathon.

However, the favourite will undoubtedly be Ethiopia's Goitetom Tesema, who ran a super-quick 2:26:21 in March for second place in the Rome Marathon.

Tesema, a late confirmation in the race, will also pocket a bonus $25,000 if she wins in a time under 2:30:00.

AAP