ENDURANCE - Ngawati to have crack at record

It has been a while since Ady Ngawati ran a Fullers Kerikeri Half Marathon but, with the form she has shown recently, don't be surprised if she threatens the course record in tomorrow.
She last ran the event in 1999 and looks forward to getting back onto the gentle Kerikeri course after winning the Auckland Marathon, with a personal best time of 2hr:49.05, at the end of October.
"Hopefully I can have a crack at the record but I'm not promising anything. I'm just getting over a cold after I pushed my body hard in Auckland but I'm still looking forward to doing this race again because it's home ground for me and should be good fun," Ngawati said. "It's a cool course, a nice downhill course ... so hopefully I can do a good time tomorrow."
The women's race record was 1:15:19, set by Whangarei's Mary Davies in 2003 and the men's record is 1:05.14 set in 1999 by Seaton Meredith.
Ngawati is aiming for a time of under 1hr:18min but, if the conditions are right, she might just trouble the record keepers _ and pull out another surprise like she did in Auckland recently.
"I surprised myself with the win, I knew I was in good form for 2:50 and I knew with a time like that I'd be pretty good for a top-five place, but I hadn't given winning too much thought," she said.
The win has encouraged her to push even harder but the sports and recreation lecturer at NorthTec is well aware of what lies ahead.
"I'd like to chop off another five minutes off that time and get a sub-2:45 next year and then I'll qualifying with a sub-2:40 the following year ... that's one of the things with endurance sports - it's a long hard slow road."
Whangarei triathlete Lee Greer will start as one of the favourites to win the men's race, with last year's winner Mark Bowyer not among this year's starters.
Race organisers said entries are slightly down from the record turnout last year. Sport Northland's Brent Markwick said they were still expecting a "very healthy" figure of 2000 people to line up at the start tomorrow.
The only significant change to the event this year will see race-walkers once again competing against the clock. Markwick said the category was re-introduced ``with an honesty policy and a couple of judges too' due to feedback from competitive walkers.