Ace Masterton athlete Tony Price had reason to be well satisfied with his efforts in Wellington last Sunday.
Price came away from the capital with both the Wellington regional and national marathon titles for his age group (55-59 years) in the bag.
Clocking a very respectable 2h 50m 38s,Price went one place better than last year in the marathon and is now the New Zealand champion in that event and the half-marathon as well.
Price was pleased with the result which vindicated what had been a rigorous training schedule. He had more than 30s to spare from his nearest rival in a weather-affected race which saw 10km of the original route altered due to road closures on the Miramar peninsula.
Price's pre-race thoughts were that he would have a good chance of winning the marathon if he could clock a time around 2:50 but he admitted later to being a little concerned he had gone out too hard in the early stages and could be in trouble over the closing stages. However, the value of his training schedule kicked in when the going got tough and he was able to maintain the momentum all the way to the finish.
Two other Athletics and Cycling Masterton club members also contested the marathon, Graeme Tindall clocking 3:44.15 in what was his 93rd marathon overall and Annie Hawkes placing 30th in her age group in a time of 4:33.31, all of four minutes better than she had recorded before.
Hawkes found the route change which saw the runners double back over the Shelley Bay section as "mentally quite tough" but she also found time to enjoy the scenery, even spotting some seals on the way.
Winner of the national senior men's marathon title was former Masterton hospital doctor Dougal Thorburn who completed the 42.4km course in 2:25.33 and had a winning margin of over 90s.
The Wellington half-marathon championships were contested on the same day and there were several local runners among the 1500 taking part there.
Local GP Jochen Martens enjoyed the flat course, which was familiar to those in his native Netherlands, and he finished in an impressive 1:36.50, placing 88th overall. Next to cross the line from Masterton was Chris Lewis in 1:45.33 while Richard Hawkes also crept under the two hour mark with a time of 1:57.13.
