Mason targeting dual aim for marathon championships

April 9, 2021
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Alice Mason crosses the line to claim the 2020 Rotorua Marathon title (Photo: Alisha Lovrich)

Decorated runner Alice Mason has a double aim in mind for the New Zealand Senior Marathon Championships, held in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the ASB Christchurch Marathon this Sunday.

Mason is aiming for a fourth consecutive national marathon title, having earlier claimed the honours in Christchurch in 2019, Rotorua in 2018 and Wellington in 2017 (no national championships were held in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic).

But she also has an eye on the Olympic Games qualifying time of 2:29:30, a goal she has been focusing on since putting full time work as a doctor on hold last year.

Her personal best is 2:38:35 – achieved in Sydney in 2019 – and she clocked in at 2:43:32 in her most recent success, a first-place finish at the Auckland Marathon last November.

She will have some noteworthy support in the Garden City this weekend with national men’s 5000m champion Hayden Wilde joining his coach Craig Kirkwood in trying to help Mason through to the Tokyo qualifying mark.

“This is probably the one chance, I’ve really got to do it by the end of April to show the selectors and we decided that Christchurch was the best option,” she says.

“Since my last really fast race (Sydney 2019), I’ve just been building and building. I’ve not had any injury disruptions and I would say I’m in better shape than I was a year ago.”

The Christchurch course is noted for its fast nature so Mason feels it’s her best bet for Olympic glory.

“It’s a long shot but it’s good to be going in with no real expectations to do it. You might just surprise yourself and that’s how I roll,” she says. 

“A marathon is such a mental challenge. If you can get to the end and you’ve stayed tough and felt like you’ve given it everything, then I don’t think you can ask for much more than that.”

If she does add another Christchurch title to her name on Sunday, Mason will be able to place her latest gong in a haul that already includes three Rotorua Marathon wins, two Christchurch titles and one win apiece in the Wellington and Auckland marathons.

Looking to join Mason in putting in a swift time are the likes of Ingrid Cree and Lisa Brignull. 

The women’s Christchurch marathon record is 2:35:00, set by Japanese runner Naenai Sasaki in 1982.

In the men’s event, Daniel Jones, who has a personal best of 2:16:15 from the Gold Coast in 2019, will be aiming to win his first national marathon title.

He has not previously raced the marathon distance at Christchurch, but has a personal best in the half marathon of 1:07:11, which was enough to claim third place in 2018.

The 30-year-old has built up an impressive list of victories in Queenstown, Hawke’s Bay and Auckland over the past year. He will be challenged by the likes of Kristian Day and Chris Wharam, who was third in the 2017 championship.

Day was fifth in Christchurch in 2019 in his best time of 2:29:42.

In what is likely to be an extremely competitive race, Tom Birnie’s 1985 race record of 2:15:12 is under threat.

In the associated Christchurch half marathon, Olivia Burne and Katherine Camp are set to go head-to-head in the women while a strong line-up of Daniel Balchin, Christopher Dryden, Oska Inkster-Baynes, Seamus Kane, Michael Voss and Fabian Downs will battle it out for the male honours.


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