Distance run pair reaching peak of form
OTAGO’S two top distance runners are continuing to track well as the season’s pinnacle event approaches.
Rebekah Greene and Oli Chignell both took time off their own Otago records last weekend at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton.
The duo have been putting together impressive summer seasons and the performances show they are peaking for the national championships in two weeks.
Greene’s 4min 14.81sec took 2.5sec off her previous personal best. It had been seven years since she ran that fast, having recorded a series of sub4min 20sec performances while in the United States in 2013 and 2014.
Injuries and a heart issue slowed and hampered her for several years, although she now looks to be back in top form.
She finished second in the race, marginally behind Olympic 5000m runner Camille Buscomb.
Chignell ran 13min 36.74sec to take 1.5sec off the 5000m record he set earlier this season.
Chignell finished second to Whakatane’s Hayden Wilde, who delivered a blistering 13min 29.47sec display.