Whangarei's 77-year-old Clasina Van Der Veeken was elated to pull off first place in her grade in the recent Rotorua Marathon - breaking a record in the process. Van Der Veeken completed the 42.2km circuit around Lake Rotorua in a remarkable 5h 47s, shaving three seconds off the old record forher age-group - a small margin over the marathon distance but nonetheless a huge achievement. Pleased with her result, the Whangarei Athletics club member said it was a great run in ideal conditions. It was Van Der Veeken's ninth successful finish in the marathon and she planned to return next year. Evergreen Colin Thorne also triumphed, at an age when many find a short walk challenging. The 85-year-old completed the 42.2km in 5:57:21, almost three minutes ahead of the second runner in the 80+ age group and more than eight minutes ahead of the third place-getter. It was Thorne's 18th finish at Rotorua and, even more remarkably, it followed a knee replacement only 18 months earlier. Mark Turner was fastest from the Whangarei area, finishing in 3:16:27 ahead of John Kent in 3:17:28. And Judith Bradshaw was the fastest woman in 3:58:16. Other finishers from the Whangarei area were: Steve Trass - 3:19:45, Max Smith - 3:25:01, Brian Barach - 3:41:38, Barrie Iggo - 3:51:30, Grant Couchman - 3:58:27, Gillian Michel - 4:22:23, Ian Douglas - 4:47:06, Neville Rae - 4:51:56, Oringa Barach - 5:49:12, Dennis Fogden - 5:53:24.
