Marathon: Katikati athlete has great 50th all round with women's victory

Sally Gibbs (left) after her win, with second placed Jess Ruthe.

Bay of Plenty runner Sally Gibbs has celebrated her 50th year in style with a win at the 50th Rotorua Marathon.

Gibbs won the women's race on Saturday in a time of 2hr 45min 58sec, almost three minutes ahead of Tauranga's Jess Ruthe.

Gibbs, who hails from Katikati, said she entered the round-the-lake marathon after turning 50 in June last year.

"It was the celebration of my 50th," she said.

"The celebration was going to be to run the 50th Rotorua Marathon, so to win it - I am over the moon."

Gibbs opened up a big lead on Saturday and never let it go, charging home to win her first Rotorua Marathon title.

She said she didn't start too quickly and managed to conserve energy, which helped her take out the race.

"It is probably the first time I have done what [my running coach] wanted me to."

Gibbs said it was great to have her coach Barry Ellis there supporting her.

She said some of her family members were also there, running the marathon.

"My son and daughter-in-law are still out there and they have a lot of hurt still to go," she said after her race.

Meanwhile, Ruthe added to her family's success at the Rotorua event by finishing second.

Her father won the men's race in 1984 and her mother came second in the women's race in the same year.

"I did it in the same time as my mum - 2 hours 48 minutes. I had to make it in under 2.49 so she couldn't say she ran faster than me."

She said she had a message to pass on to her mother, Rosemary Wright, after the race.

"She was faster than what I thought she was."

Wellington's Katie Kemp finished third, just over a minute behind Ruthe. Last year's champion Erin Furness (Hamilton) finished in fourth.

Seven female runners finished under three hours on Saturday, up from two in 2013.