Half marathon win puts Camille on track
Camille Buscomb is determined not to let her win at the Hamilton Half Marathon become a case of deja vu.
The University of Waikato student was the first woman to cross the line on Sunday and was second overall.
She’s likely to become a familiar figure on running tracks and parks around Hamilton over the coming months, building on her half marathon win.
The middle-long distance runner has pushed aside the disappointment of missing the Rio Olympics and now firmly has her eyes set on the World Athletics Championships next year and qualifying for the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Buscomb said she’s learnt from the turbulent times of the past 12 months.
She had major surgery to remove a cyst from her jaw at the end of 2015 and she now realises her drive to achieve selection for Rio prevented her body from a full recovery.
She won the Auckland and Hamilton half marathons and then went on to compete overseas as part of her build up towards qualification for Rio.
‘‘By the end of the [2015] year and into January, my glands were swollen up around my ears. I just kept racing, thinking it was just a cold or a sore throat but it was a lot worse.
‘‘I just kept thinking that I’ve got to focus on what I can do and not what’s happened. Sometimes you have to be realistic though, and at the time, I wasn’t.’’
Buscomb’s father suggested she needed to take a break but the pull of the Rio Olympics was too strong.
After Europe she had the following five weeks away from running. The disappointment of missing selection to contest the 5000m and 10000m events at Rio followed.
Buscomb now understands a serious operation like the one she endured takes months to recover from.
The 27-year-old recently returned to fulltime training. She’s aiming to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in August 2017, which will propel her towards the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Buscomb also has a renewed focus on her university studies.
‘‘I’m planning to finish off my degree in December and looking at honours in psychology next year.
‘‘I want a career as a registered psychology, it’s something I’ve always been interested in. I’m not 100 per cent sure which area I want to specialise in but I am sure it’s not going to be sport.’’
Buscomb hasn’t closed the doors on another shot at the Olympics but insists she is now better aware of her limitations.
‘‘I really want to make the Olympics, it is four years away. I have learnt a lot and I still think I can get there. I’ll just keep reminding myself that I’m not invincible.’’