Twenty-four hours after winning the Rotorua Marathon, Dale Warrander had come down off cloud nine and was doing the weekly grocery shop for his family.
"I really need to stock up for the next few days and get those carbs into me," the Athens Olympian told the Daily Post after convincingly winning Saturday's Lion Foundation marathon in two hours 22 minutes and 38 seconds.
"I'm going to rest up for a few days then begin my build-up for the Gold Coast [marathon] introducing some speed work - 1km reps and more specific stuff like that - to up the tempo."
Warrander is aiming to run a sub 2hr 15min marathon on the Gold Coast in July in a bid to qualify early for next year's Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
"It's going to be a different kettle of fish over there. I've run this race before and have decided I'm not going to be the aggressor, I want to sit back and sit in behind the leaders and let them do the work before making my move," he admitted.
The tactic, a far cry from Saturday's dominating run that saw the Tauranga runner came home almost a staggering six minutes ahead of his nearest rival Kim Hogarth, of Palmerston North.
Warrander powered ahead of the bunch to earn himself an unassailable lead 5km into the race and maintained his swift momentum during the 42.2km lake loop.
Despite his legs not having much "oomph" during the final 8km and suffering the effects of an upset stomach at the finish line - possibly due to drinking the wrong fluid replacements on the run - Warrander was delighted to win his third Rotorua marathon title.
He had previously won the event in 1996 and in 2004.
Hogarth, the three times New Zealand 3000m steeplechase champion, clocked 2hrs 28mins 10 secs to finish second while Aucklander Joe Piggin, who finished second behind Warrander in the recent Queenstown marathon, claimed third in 2hrs 38mins 39secs.
Japanese visitor Yasunori Yamamoto, who was second in last year's sister city marathon the Kawaguchi, finished fourth in 2hr 32mins 57secs, Auckland's Gavin Stevens and Graham Mackey took fifth and sixth while another Aucklander, Ross Rotherham, who was awarded the trophy for the fastest mountain run during this year's Speights Coast to Coast, came in seventh in 2hrs 41mins 49secs.
The first Rotorua runner home was Lake City Athletic's Bruce Edwards, whose time of 2hr 47mins 35secs also earned him third place in his men's 40-44 year category.
While Warrander led the men's race from start to finish, the women's race was much more exciting and kept everyone guessing until the final 10km.
Former Dunedin runner Mikki Williden, now based in Auckland, surprised everyone by winning the women's race in 3hr 52secs while Melanie Burke claimed an impressive second in 3hr 04mins 31secs - her first attempt at the marathon distance.
Looking fresh at the finish line Williden, completing her third marathon, praised her Wellington-based contemporaries Bernie Portenski and Michele Allison, who finished third and fourth respectively, for their support and advice during the race.
"I just ran with them and they said conserve your energy and if you feel like you've got anything left near the airport then go for it," the bubbly 27-year-old said.
"Bernie and Michele were fantastic, they were awesome ... it was awesome, I am so lucky."
Allison, who finished first in her 45-49 age-group, hugged her sister Portenski in delight at the finish line and said she was amazed with efforts of the nimble Williden.
"She was not even breathing," reflected Allison. "I said if you want to win this, you've got to go now."
Auckland's Ruth Kingston lead the women's field through Hamurana and at 20km clocked 1hr 25mins 42s. Fellow Aucklander Joanna Gemmell was looking comfortable in second, Burke in third and the trio of Portenski, Allison and Williden one minute behind. However at 27km Gemmell had reeled in Kingston, before Williden put her foot down at the 35km mark and "just went out and ran."
Gemmell was forced to settle for fifth place and Kingston sixth.
Saturday's Rotorua marathon attracted 1800 entrants while an additional 800 people participated in the 5km and 10km events. Rotorua's Steven O'Callaghan won the 10km event in 32mins 32secs with Auckland's Ngairita McMillan first woman home. Hamilton's Gareth Langdon took out the 5km race while Rotorua's Karyn McCready was first woman home.
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