Marathon: Athletes praised after efforts are rewarded

Tony Broadhead raced in his eighth Rotorua Marathon on Saturday for Lake City Athletic Club. Photo / Ben Fraser

Lake City Athletic Club is praising the success of its athletes after an impressive haul of results in the 52nd running of the Rotorua Marathon.

The stand-out title was the Athletics NZ Marathon Women's Team Championship, which combined the finishing times of the top three female runners from each running club over the 42.2km distance.

Local runner Johanna Ottoson greatly helped her club as she battled into third place in a time of 2h 57m 52s, with Clare Barrett-Wood and Sian Twiddy the club's next best finishers.

The other notable victories for Lake City came thanks to Reporoa man Michael Voss who stormed through in the half marathon in a time of 1h 06m 07s, and Tony Broadhead who won in his 45-49 age group in the marathon with a time of 2h 53m.

Broadhead, who took part in his eighth marathon on Saturday, has just about recovered and was pleased with his performance, although found the last 3km of the race "extremely challenging".

"I will start running again over the next couple of days but it will only be for about 20 minutes or so as my legs start cramping after that," he said.

"The weather was perfect, bright but thankfully not too hot and the local crowd really helped me especially on the home straight.

"I was on target for my goal of the 2h 49m but then the last 3km hit and all I was thinking about was getting to the finish line. I was dizzy and legs were going. Things like that just happen on the day, there was nothing I could have done to prepare for that."

Broadhead is aiming to make it into the "survivor's club", meaning he'll have to compete in another seven marathons. In the meantime he is preparing to compete in the June Christchurch half marathon if he recovers quickly and the New Zealand Cross Country Championships in August.

"I started when I was 20, just for fun because I wanted to do the Rotorua marathon. Football then took over and it was only really in my 40s that I have taken it seriously," said the 48-year-old.

"I want to make that special special club, I'm over halfway now so I have to keep going."

Pam Kenny, vice-president of Lake City Athletic Club, praised Broadhead's efforts but did not single out any of the athletes.

"Of course we are delighted to have that particular trophy back, as we lent it out last year to another team," she joked. "However the day was not about one athlete. We are proud of every single person who stepped into their running shoes on the day and also other members who cheered on from the side line.

"I was really impressed because our athletes all dedicated themselves to a 15-week clinical programme and it really showed on the day.

- For all the race results go to: www.thetimingteam.co.nz