Queenstown’s marathon sets record

Pure adrenaline kept nine rugby players, clad only in their speedos, warm as they stood in the rain awaiting the starter’s gun at the Queenstown half marathon.

They were among a record

12,000 people taking part in the marathon, half marathon,

10-kilometre and children’s events, on Saturday.

Wakatipu Rugby Club runner Ben Ellis said the team were pleased to finish in about two hours and 15 minutes without any serious chafing issues.

A tub of chafing cream and fantastic crowd support kept them going despite the changeable weather.

‘‘Every time we passed people the support was unreal. It kept us going.’’

The group has so far raised nearly $6000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Retired Paralympian Liam Malone loved the course and was thrilled to shave 40 seconds off the time he ran the Nelson half marathon in two weeks ago, on a more undulating course. He finished in 1.34.44. Malone ran his first, and last, marathon in Hawke’s Bay last year and was now committing to

the half marathon distance for the foreseeable future.

‘‘Because of my amputations I am putting all my weight through a small surface area.

‘‘The marathon is a bit of a [night] mare but the half is easy.’’ He was hoping to work his way up to a half Ironman.

‘‘It was magical running around the lake ... totally superb,’’ he said.

The fastest marathon runner was British man Fabe Downs, who took the lead from favourite

Daniel Jones who retired with a leg injury. Downs finished in a time of 2:28:57 and said he loved the course, especially around the lake. ‘‘It is so nice to run on soft ground and not hard tarmac all the way,’’ he said.

Dunedin-based Margie Campbell was a comfortable winner of the women’s race, the expat Queenslander coming home in 2:54:51, 15 minutes ahead of second place-getter Sonya Cameron.

‘‘It is a little bit slower than a

lot of marathon courses but I wouldn’t change it for anything,’’ she said.

Cromwell man Daniel Balchin won the half marathon for the third time in a row, a minute outside his own record time. Jess Kikstra, of Christchurch, ran to victory in 1:26;18, despite just missing the race start.

Australian police officers Kathie and Jose Alonso ran their first marathon after jointly losing 67kg while training.