A new women’s record time has been set in the Auckland Marathon as the country’s largest running event coursed its way over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and along the city’s beaches this morning.
Alexandra’s Daniel Balchin was crowned the men’s title winner in the full-length course – a 42.2km-long winding run starting at Devonport and finishing at Victoria Park in the CBD – after finishing with a time of 2h 19m 55s.
2024 champion Brigid Dennehy crossed the finish line soon after with a time of 2h 38m 10s, securing the women’s full marathon title for the second year in a row and breaking the previous women’s record by more than three minutes.
More than 17,000 people participated in the Auckland Marathon events today, with entrants as young as 5 years old and the oldest being Kiwi businessman Garth Barfoot, 89.
Dennehy finished last year’s run at 2h 41m 31s, two seconds behind the record set by Alexandra Williams in 2012.
“It means a lot to win again, especially with Auckland being a home course and the home crowd out there, it’s very special,” Dennehy said after her record-breaking run.
“It all went to plan, I had two amazing pacers, Jono and Luke, out there and the group that was running with us – we all worked together, so it was definitely a team effort out there."
Balchin said it was “awesome to have another title to my name”.
Having won the 2023 marathon but then being outpaced by seconds in a tense sprint finish last year, he “really wanted to get across the line first”.
“Solid pack of runners, it was awesome to take it out today,” Balchin said.
“Out of the four times I’ve done this race, this year has had the best conditions yet. I certainly made the most of the conditions in the back half of the race.”
More than 3200 runners participated in the full marathon, the highest number of entrants since 2014.
Christchurch athlete Christopher Dryden ran the Garmin Half Marathon in 1h 5m 24s, winning the men’s title, while local Lisa Cross completed it with a time of 1h 15m 28s, securing the women’s title and bringing her Auckland Half Marathon title count to four.
“It was good, just a really nice race that was enjoyable. Perfect weather, no wind, it was awesome,” Cross recalled.
“I didn’t have a race plan today, I was just going to run. It felt good so I kicked on.”
Dryden said he had a great week in the lead-up to the event. He was treating the half as a “training session” for an upcoming full marathon.
“I won’t lie, I came here to win. I’ve come second and third a few times here so it’s just nice to win a big half-marathon. I’m stoked.”
The Wheelchair Marathon ended with Australia’s Michael Taylor first in the men’s race in a time of 1h 29m, and New Zealand’s Sally Barkman first the women’s event in 1h 53m 41s.
The inaugural Wheelchair Half Marathon title was scooped by Tracy Garman, who completed the circuit in 1h 2m 59s.
Other runners in the wider event took part in the 11km traverse, the 5km distance and the 2.2km kids’ run.
The full and half marathons both started in Devonport, while the 11km traverse started further north at Smales Farm.
Runners moved over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, before crossing paths with the kids’ run start line on Fanshawe St and the 5km start at Karanga Plaza.
The full marathon course extended out to St Heliers Bay, with the runners then turning around and heading back to Victoria Park, where all the participants finished.
In her 2024 marathon debut, Dennehy finished only two seconds shy of the women’s course record.
The Irish-born runner acknowledged the heat this placed on her ahead of the race: “After winning last year and being so close to the record, it has added a bit more pressure knowing it is within reach, but this has also motivated me.”
Two-time Auckland Marathon champion Alice Mason was back in the women’s race after a two-year absence because of her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter.
“My last marathon was winning Auckland two years ago and shortly after that I was pregnant with my now 1-year-old daughter. I’m pretty excited to finally be getting back on a marathon start line,” Mason said ahead of today’s event.
“My little boy was 15 months old when I last raced Auckland and so I’m really looking forward to him being able to see me run.”
Despite the time off from training, Mason managed to secure second place in the women’s race, finishing in 2h 48m 11s or 10 minutes behind Dennehy.
In the half-marathon, 79-year-old Rod Gill from Hamilton completed his 200th half-marathon, marking the end of a decade-long journey that started when he took up running at 70.
“You’re never too old. Go at your own speed - it’s amazing what the body can do,” Gill said.
Prior to the marathon, he said he’d grown his triple-digit track record purely by chance.
“I never planned to run 200 half-marathons. It just happened.”
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