News & Updates

Daniel Balchin enjoyed a memorable debut over the 42.2km distance to secure the Reboot Marathon in a slick 2:15:55 and clinch the national title last May.

He returns to defend his crown in the new look Frontrunner Christchurch Marathon on Sunday. He will race over four laps of a 10.55km circuit of the city and Hagley Park.

Balchin captured his 23^rd senior national medal when winning bronze at the New Zealand Road Championships in Upper Hutt and has enjoyed three to four months of uninterrupted preparation ahead of what will be his third career marathon.

Balchin won’t be alone however, with Tokyo Olympic marathon runner Malcolm Hicks providing stiff competition. Hicks claimed victory in the Auckland Waterfront Half Marathon in 1:06:56 earlier this month. “I’m back in New Zealand now and training towards the Rotorua event as I’m keen to tick off a Rotorua Marathon,” said Hicks of his upcoming plans. “I did the Waterfront Half as a work out and carried on and completed 38km that morning.

Nathan Tse, Andy Good, Fabian Downs, Simon Mace and Sam McCutcheon will also be in podium contention.

Good was the first master and third overall for the bronze at the Reboot Marathon achieving a career best 2:22:39. The national mountain running champion experienced an international marathon in September, clocking 2:44:04 in Berlin.

Tse finished fourth at the 2022 New Zealand Marathon Championships in his best of 2:23:39 and he won the 2021 Wairarapa Country Marathon in 2:27:38. Downs has a best of 2:26:34 following his second place at the 2020 Auckland Marathon and he followed that up with another second at the 2021 Hawke’s Bay Marathon.

Mace was second master in the Reboot race in a PB of 2:27:57. McCutcheon won the Wellington Marathon last June and has a best of 2:24:13 recorded at the 2020 Seville Marathon.

Proven road runner Kelly Parlane will have her sights set on finally winning a national title. Since 2014 the 36-year-old has collected two bronze medals in the 10,000m, a bronze in the national road championship and a national marathon silver medal back in 2015.

Parlane has a personal best of 2:44:29 dating from 2019 and placed second in the 2021 Christchurch Marathon in 2:46:08. 

Providing plenty of competition will be Mel Brandon, Debbie Donald and Sabina Piras.

Brandon, 45, won the 2022 Rotorua Marathon in September and followed that up a month later with a sixth placing in the Auckland Marathon in 2:58:36. She has a best of 2:53:22, recorded when winning the 2021 Wairarapa Country Marathon.

Piras was second in the 2019 Hawke’s Bay Marathon in 2:54:47 and Donald has a best of 2:52:55 after finishing third in the 2021 Perth Marathon.

Lisa Brignull, who was third in the 2018 Christchurch event in her best time of 3:04:35 and a two-time winner of the Wellington Marathon, will be aiming to crack the three-hour barrier for the first time. Interest will also be on Esther George debuting over the 42.2km distance. George was the first woman home in the Reboot Half Marathon last year in 1:18:37.

Full results from Sundays New Zealand Marathon Championships can be viewed here.

By Murray McKinnon