Northland's Mary Davies has recorded a personal best in the Edmonton Half Marathon as she builds up to qualify for next year's marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.
Davies finished second in the women's race in 1.11.34. "I was happy with the performance and was aiming at somewhere between 1:11 and 1:12 but would have been happier with closer to 1:11 or under."
Coach Ian Babe said as Edmonton is at altitude 762m Davies can take off 30-60 seconds from her time. She ran alone from the 4km mark in windy conditions, which made her result even better.
He said Davies had recaptured the form that saw her a virtual certainty for the Olympics until injury prevented her from qualifying at the Paris Marathon last year.
Davies will try to break the 2:32 qualifying time for the marathon in Ottawa on October 7 or the following week in Toronto.