The 30-year-old posted a Tokyo qualifying time at the New York Marathon earlier this month, clocking 2:27.07 - more than two minutes inside the required time.

Australia has a maximum of three competitors in the Tokyo marathon, with two-time Olympian Jess Trengove and Sinead Diver among her strongest rivals.

The national team won't be named until after the end of the Australian Track and Field Championships in late March.

Pashley also nabbed a 2020 qualifying time in her World Athletics Championships debut over 10,000m recently in Qatar.

"The 10,000m on the track is faster and higher intensity and for me, I don't think I'm as good in the 10,000," she said from her base near Torquay yesterday.

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"What I like about the marathon is a lot of it is about decision making, pacing yourself and knowing when to go and what's too fast or not fast enough, I like all the different elements that come into it.

"It's painful, it's a different sort of pain in the last 10k's, it's just such a mental challenge."

Pashley has always been an outstanding sportsperson, starring for North Albury in Ovens and Murray netball, while claiming the first of three Nail Can Hill (11.3km) victories in 2010.

But it was only in 2016 that she took the next step.

"I decided I'm getting a bit older and if I ever want to have a real crack at running, I need to do it now."