Athletics New Zealand – News – New York Marathon Preview and Other News – A high placing on the agenda for Kimberley Smith in New York

New Zealand runner Kimberley Smith will be out to improve on fifth place in the New York marathon which is still expected to take place this Sunday despite the City being ravaged by superstorm Sandy.

The 30 year old Rhode Island based athlete has finished fifth in the last two years running 2h 25m 46s last year, nearly four minutes faster than her time in 2010.

However time is not a factor for Smith this year. "With New York being such a tough course it is hard to predict a time. It's often a tactical race so I'm not focused on time and am more focused on place," said Smith.

At the London Olympic Games Smith was disappointed with her 15th place in 2h 26m 59s, but she bounced back to win the Boston half marathon and the series prize purse. Smith has been married for the past two months, after marrying Pat Tarpy on 1 September.

"My training has gone well. I thought it might be tough to recover after the Olympics in time for the BAA half and New York but my recovery went well and workouts have been good. It's definitely not as long of a build up as I've had in the past but I have got a lot of hard work in and feel pretty good. After a disappointing Olympics it was nice to have a big focus like the NYC marathon so I didn't dwell on my Olympic race too much," added Smith.

The women's field is extremely competitive with London Olympic marathon gold medallist Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia and Games bronze medallist Tatyana Arkhipova of Russia racing. Gelana, who set an Olympic record of 2h 23m 7s, will be running her first New York marathon and comes into the race with a personal best time of 2h 18m 58s run in Rotterdam in April. Arkhipova is also having her first outing in New York and her time of 2h 23m 29s at the Olympics is her best.

Race organisers are hopeful that the race will still take place. While the course through the five boroughs mostly avoids high-risk flood areas, transportation appears to be a major issue, with nearly 20,000 international runners needing to get into the country and another 30,000 American participants having to find their way to the Staten Island starting line. In addition, family and friends of the runners will be seeking to get to their viewing spots and the finish line.

Funeral Arrangements for Frank Nolan

Frank's funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Victories Roman Catholic Church, 106 Main South Road, Sockburn Christchurch on Thursday 1st November at 2pm.
Frank will be buried at the Hokitika Cemetery on Friday 2nd November at 2pm.

Recent 5km Race Results from Around the Country

Auckland
O'Hagan's Viaduct 5km, 23 October: Adam Mansour 15m 56s, Warick Brenan 16m 22s, Ian Richards 16m 48s, Gavin Stevens 16m 49s. Jessica Crate (USA) 17m 51s, Lesley Ryan 19m 47s.
Hamilton
Eastside Riverpath 5km, 23 October: Michael Whitehead 16m 17s, John Crane 16m 51s, Sunil Ritchie 17m 20s. Helen Rountree 18m 0s.
Tauranga
Smiths Sports Shoes Everyone's 5km, 25 October: Kyle Macdonald 16m 11s, Andrew Straker 17m 27s. Diana Harbuz 20m 40s.
Napier
Bluewater Hotel 5km, 23 October: Zach Gedye 17m 42s, James Bell 17m 50s.
Wellington
Lifestyle Sports Waterfront 5km Series, 23 October: Tomas Bridgeman 17m 3s, Raven Townsend 17m 23s. Hinano Sefesi 18m 59s, Cecile Tuarze 19m 49s. Walk Fraser Samson 33m 6s, Frances Le Fort 35m 10s.
Nelson
Waimea Vineyard 5km Summer Series, 24 October: Brian Kemp 17m 28s, Ian Courtenay 17m 33s, Matt Newberry 17m 50s. Colette Read 20m 30s.
                    

   
Murray McKinnon
Communications Advisor
Athletics New Zealand
0274 806086
murray@mckinnon.co.nz

 Athletics New Zealand – News