RUNNING

Pulford, Kemp claim honours in ASB Auckland Marathon

By ASB Auckland Marathon

Qualified arborist Aaron Pulford felled his rivals to enjoy the perfect debut over the 42.2km distance to claim a thrilling victory in the 2015 ASB Auckland Marathon.

The broadest smile of the day belonged to Wellington’s Katie Kemp, the winner of the women’s race at her first attempt, who obliterated her previous best by more than seven minutes to take an eye-catching victory in 2:42:35.

Pulford, the talented three-time national 10,000m champion from Thames, proved the extended distance was no barrier to his qualities as he made his winning move with 5km to go to storm to a 31-second victory in 2:27:01 from Auckland's Jono Jackson. 

Former New Zealand Marathon champion Dougal Thorburn clinched third in 2:27:54, which was 14 seconds clear of his Wellington Scottish clubmate Nick Horspool, the 2014 runner-up, who took fourth.

Victory for Pulford was further evidence the 24-year-old’s decision to solely pursue athletics at the beginning of the year was the right move as he also he added the New Zealand Marathon title - which was also at stake – to his cache of national titles.

“I came here to win and I had trained so hard for it and I knew I was in shape to do well,” said Pulford, who is coached by Maria Hassan, coach to World University Games 800m champion Angie Petty (nee Smit).

“I got to the 30k mark and felt good and I wanted to hang in there. I made the move at 37k when I was pushing it hard with Dougal (Thorburn) and then he was struggling a bit and I pushed on. Once I had the gap I just had to maintain it.”

Swelled with confidence following the performance, Pulford plans to either target a marathon or the 10,000m in the New Year in an effort to secure his ambition to qualify for the Rio Olympics.


Aaron Pulford and Katie Kemp celebrate victories in theASB Auckland Marathon. Credit: Darryl Carey


Meanwhile Kemp, a mum-of-three, assumed control of the women’s race at the top of the Harbour Bridge and simply destroyed the opposition. Auckland’s Kelly Parlane was a distant second in 2:52:33 and Australian Elizabeth Pittaway third in 2:54:45. The early race leader Sally Gibbs, 52, took fourth in 2:55:05 and also earned a podium spot in the New Zealand Marathon Championships.

An elated, Kemp, 39, who has three children aged between six and three, said of her win:  “I’ve worked so hard for this but it really is a huge family effort.

“It’s amazing to get a good time, to win and to have a good race. I race evenly all day and ran my own race. That was the key because I knew Sally would go our fast. But I ran my own race and felt great throughout.”

Kemp (Wellington Scottish) suffered multiple stress fractures in her earlier running career before taking a five-year break from the sport to have her three children. She only returned to action in 2013 but introducing yoga into weekly regime appears to have paid dividends as she has avoided many of the injury issues which bedevilled her early career.  

Kemp also had an additional motivation for running fast as she was selected for the ASB Run Down Your Rate initiative and will receive a 2.42 per cent home loan mortgage.

“To get a good time and now have a low mortgage with ASB is amazing,” she added.
 
Results, ASB Auckland Marathon, elite men: Aaron Pulford (Thames) 2:27.01, 1; Jonathan Jackson (Auckland) 2:27.32, 1; Dougal Thorburn (Wellington) 2:27:54, 3; Nick Horspool (Wellington) 2:28.08, 4; Ciaran Faherty (Auckland) 2:30.37, 5.

Elite women: Katie Kemp (Wellington) 2:42.35, 1; Kelly Parlane (Auckland) 2:52.33, 2; Elizabeth Pittaway (Australia) 2:54.45, 3; Sally Gibbs (Katikati) 2:55.15, 4; Mel Aitken (Dunedin) 2:55.44, 5.
Barfoot & Thompson Half Marathon, elite men: Malcolm Hicks (Auckland) 1:08.30, 1; Michael Banks (Auckland) 1:10.48, 2; Josh Maisey (Auckland) 1:10.48, 3; Tony Payne (Auckland) 1:11.14, 4; Brad Luiten (Auckland) 1:15.11, 5.

Elite women: Camile Buscomb (Cambridge) 1:16.07, 1; Rowan-Marie Torckler (Cambridge) 1:16.23, 2; Olivia Burne (Auckland) 1:17.49, 3; Annika Pfitzinger (Auckland) 1:18.26, 4; Kelli Boyd (Auckland) 1:18.29, 5.

12k Traverse, men: Andrew Moorman (Auckland) 42.58, 1; Mike Lichtwark (Auckland) 44.18, 2; Charlie Knox (Auckland) 47.03, 3.

Women: Penny Peskett (Auckland) 44.20, 1; Francesca Stafford (Auckland) 52.26, 2; Emma Post (Auckland) 53.16, 3.