Ruthe completes family double

If this was a training gallop, imagine once Jess Ruthe gets to the real thing.
The Tauranga runner surprised herself and sent ripples through the sport when she comfortably collected the Auckland Marathon title yesterday, just six months after giving birth to son Sam.
The 29-year-old emulated her husband Ben, who won the men's title last year, as she surged across the line 5mins ahead of nearest challenger Lara Phillips in the 42.2km race.
Phillips won this year's Rotorua Marathon title but couldn't keep pace with the flying Ruthes, with Ben opting to pace his wife this year taking six months off training to help care for their son.
"It was a little bit of a surprise - on the startline, we saw that Lara Phillips had entered and we were a bit gutted because we'd always said we wouldn't get competitive and we thought she'd force the pace," Jess Ruthe said.
"We were running behind her for the first 15km and could tell she was finding the uphill hard and trying to go faster on the downhills to get away. We passed her up the bridge and thought we'd better keep going."
Ruthe even edged under 2hrs 50mins, clocking 2:49:55.
Another Tauranga runner, Michelle Basson, broke 3hrs for the first time to finish fourth in 2:59:08, while Johanna Ottosson was sixth woman home in the half marathon in 1:21:46.
Ruthe originally planned to run in the half marathon but decided ironically decided the pace in that event would have been too torrid.
She had also made a promise to her father, former New Zealand marathon champion Trevor Wright, when he was seriously ill in hospital earlier this year.
Although she hadn't run more than 30km in training, Ruthe said she felt surprisingly fresh last night.
"It doesn't really feel like I've done a marathon - it was more just a nice long run with Ben! It was actually a nice pace but because I hadn't done any long runs, my legs did get a bit tired.
"They got a bit heavy and didn't want to carry on - I went through halfway and was thinking the half marathon would've been a nice place to finish."
The pair will now line up in this weekend's inaugural Bays and Bridges Challenge in Tauranga, a 14km run around Waipu Bay incorporating the airport, golf course, and two bridge crossings.
But Ruthe's next major focus is firmly on posting a good time at next year's Gold Coast Marathon, where she hopes to take a giant step towards qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics.
"Hopefully I'll be more prepared by then.
"I might carry on the rest of the year pretty casually, doing a few fun events and supporting the local races, and then in the new year start to build things up a bit."
Meanwhile, Rowan Hooper continued his domestic distance running domination by comfortably winning the men's Auckland marathon title.
The 31-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, was gifted the race after his training companion Glynn Hadley and Japanese visitor Tomotaka Nakayama dropped off the pace at 22km.
Facing a freshening breeze on the return run along Tamaki Drive from St Heliers back into the city, Hooper was pleased with his finishing time.
"It's great, one of the great things running in New Zealand is when you start in a race, you have a chance of winning it. It's always nice to win - especially when you get a big crowd like this and a huge atmosphere, it's just great," he said.
Matt Smith of Christchurch won the New Zealand half marathon title with the women's title going to Otago's Shireen Crumpton.
Smith, who has recently received New Zealand citizenship, had a great battle with former Tauranga runner Dale Warrander, breaking clear with 4km to go and finishing 11secs clear in 1:06:19.