Jake equals twin’s record

‘‘The twins are together,’’ Jake Robertson shouted, after he was told he had equalled brother Zane’s New Zealand 10km road record in New Orleans at Easter.

Jake Robertson, 28, backed up his 2017 win in the Crescent City Classic 10km road race, running 27min 28sec on Sunday.

His time was the same to the second as Zane Robertson set in 2016 at the Great 10km Berlin road race in Germany.

While Jake equalled the New Zealand best, he did fall short of the course record he was seeking.

Robertson set a blistering pace from the start. While he shaved 24sec off last year’s time it was 18sec slower than Kenyan Sammy Kipketer ran to win in 2002.

‘‘I wanted to get that course record,’’ Robertson,

‘‘Every year I hope to get better, so maybe next year.’’

Robertson, 28, last year broke a 20-year streak of Kenyan winners in the annual race.

‘‘I really tried to change my approach, even though it didn’t look like it,’’ Robertson said.

‘‘I did slow down at one point because I knew what was coming, so I tried to save a little bit more for the last half. It worked well, I just still lost a lot in the last half [kilometre].’’

The other elite runners, second-place finisher John Muritu among them, stayed with Robertson for the first 4km.

Muritu, who won the Classic in 2015 and 2016, ran 28min 14sec.