GISBORNE marathon runner Doug Moore was more than satisfied with his sub-three-hour race in the ASB Auckland Marathon at the weekend, finishing 19th in the open men’s division and 38th overall in two hours 54 minutes — a placing and time close to his performances in Auckland the previous twoyears.
One thing that made this run stand out from the rest was Moore’s selection as one of 10 New Zealanders in the huge field to “run down their rate”, a prize of a halved interest rate for two years on an ASB home loan.
“This time I was just happy to be under three hours,” Moore said.
“That was my focus this time. When I signed up to the race I wanted to do a PB (personal best) but feeling fatigued from previous runs, I knew I was going into this one feeling not even 90 percent ready. So I simply wanted to run a smart race.
“I ran the first 21km bang on my goal time, an easy 1:24, and I knew I could relax a little. A strong headwind on the return from St Heliers was challenging but I knew I had plenty of time to get to the finish with extra minutes on my side.”
Among other Gisborne runners in the field were Lance Ng, who ran a creditable 3:22 for 64th place in the open men, and Bianca Shaw, who was 46th in the 35-39 women’s division in 4:26.
Mike Jennings ran 4:11 for 14th in the men’s 60-64 division but daughter Samantha had to drop her pace to finish in 4:24 after suffering an ankle injury.
