Anneke Grogan is delighted to support Reboot: The Athletes Marathon on Sunday (15 May) because she says it is another “cool” example of an attractive athlete-centric event.
The national women’s 3000m steeplechase champion has entered the Reboot half marathon, which takes place on a flat, fast course at Tai Tapu south of Christchurch, and she is elated organisers of the innovative event – which includes the New Zealand Senior Marathon Championship – have met the needs of the athletes.
“It is super cool to see an event on a good course which is focused on athletes,” she says. “It is a great initiative which give the athletes every chance to perform at their best. During the summer Auckland City Athletics organised a series of short, evening meets with strong fields which met the needs of athletes and Reboot is another example of that.”
A member of the “Bays Babes” – the powerhouse all-female North Harbour Bays training group under the coaching of Paul Hamblyn – for the past two years Anneke is thriving in the environment.
She has just enjoyed a memorable summer track season not only banking the national steeplechase title – completing the win just 50 minutes after placing fifth in the 1500m final – but also snared silver at the New Zealand mile championships and climaxed her season with a massive new 5000m PB of 16:11.92 when second at the Night of 5s behind training partner Laura Nagel.
“I was really happy with the season, and I was especially pleased to come away with a really good time at Night of 5s,” says Anneke. “I think it went so well because of the culmination of the training I was doing with Paul (Hamblyn) over the past couple of years and the group of girls I’m training with has made a really big difference.”
A versatile performer on all surfaces and over a range of distance, the Tauranga-raised athlete admits she retains a strong passion for cross country and still holds a fondness for the 1500m but she is also keen to explore other events. In future she harbours future aspirations in the steeplechase and when contacted by Athletics NZ Competitions Manager Jason Cameron about Reboot she could not resist the opportunity to enter the half marathon.
“I hadn’t really thought too much about competing there as the race is quite early in the winter season,” she says. “But after receiving the message (from Jason) I thought it would be fun to give it a go. I don’t really have a good half marathon time and you want all your PB’s to look good, so I thought why not give it a crack? Hopefully I can get a good time running Reboot, and it will also stand me in good stead for the cross country season.”
Anneke admits besides going for the slightly longer run she has not had too much time to adjust her training to meet the specific demands of the half marathon distance. However, she is hopeful she can significantly revise her PB which sits at 1:28:16 when finishing third in the 2019 Queenstown Half Marathon.
“The only other half I’ve done was in Queenstown and it was horrible,” she recalls. “It was very hilly, which is not what I expected, so I hope to improve on that time. I’d like to go under 1:20 (at Reboot). I’m not expecting to blow people out of the water with an insane time, but I think 1:20 is an achievable goal.”