Josh Harrison (left) and Sarah Joubert were the winners of the City of Rotorua Half Marathon men's and women's races on Sunday. Photo / Ben Fraser
Josh Harrison (left) and Sarah Joubert were the winners of the City of Rotorua Half Marathon men's and women's races on Sunday. Photo / Ben Fraser
Josh Harrison took more than three minutes off last year's best time at yesterday's City of Rotorua Half Marathon.
Running for a long time by himself, the Ironman World Champs entrant was almost six minutes quicker than nearest rival Julian Ng, who led home third-placed Petr Faitl by five minutes.
Sarah Joubert, running in just her second-ever race at 19 years of age, dominated the women's race in a time of 1h 30m 34s - two-and-a half minutes quicker than second-placed Melanie Thompson.
Local woman Shannon-Leigh Litt, who had completed a marathon in Blenheim the day before, came third in 1h 33m 46s.
John Caie set a course record of 35m 39s in the 10km Classic, with Chris Myland and Chris Weeks finishing in second and third, while Carly Graham won the women's race ahead of Lesley Ryan and Jessie Hakaraia in a time of 39m 59s.
Kalon Sheerin won the Over-8 boys' 2km race in 8m 24s, with Toby Hurihanganui prevailing in the Under-8s girls' in 8m 48s.
Freya Lord proved the quickest Over-8 girl in a time of 9m 12s, with Molly Miller winning the younger category in a time of 9m 38s. There was a total of 1160 entrants.
