Tauranga's Ben and Jess Ruthe after winning the Tauranga Half Marathon earlier this month. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga's Ben and Jess Ruthe after winning the Tauranga Half Marathon earlier this month. Photo / George Novak
It was 30 years ago when Trevor Wright won the Rotorua Marathon - a feat his daughter and son-in-law will try to repeat next weekend.
Trevor's daughter Jess Ruthe and her husband Ben Ruthe (Tauranga) have emerged as top contenders for the Rotorua Marathon next Saturday.
In the past couple of months they have both won the Tauranga Half Marathon and Rotorua Off-Road Half Marathon.
For anybody involved in Bay of Plenty running circles, that comes as little surprise. Jess and Ben have both won the Auckland Marathon in the past and have a long list of running accolades.
But there is one accolade both runners would love to add to their list of achievements - a Rotorua Marathon title.
While the honour of winning is one motivation, their family also has a rich history at the event.
In 1984, Jess' father Trevor won the Rotorua Marathon in a lightning fast time of 2h 19m 48s, while Jess' mum Rosemary Wright came second in the women's race.
Rosemary - a Commonwealth Games gold medallist - finished second the following year as well.
Ben said to repeat their parents' success at the event would be very special, especially while juggling a young family, work and training.
"In the back of my mind it would be great to be able to try and emulate what Rose and Trev did in terms of running with a young family in the early 80s, because it is quite hard to balance work and family and running. So to see them doing it is quite inspiring and it would be brilliant to try and emulate that."
Ben said his wife Jess had been training really well for the event next Saturday and was running plenty of kilometres each week, after finishing second last year.
"I think Jess has a good shot at winning the women's race. I think she is as well prepared as she can be to have a shot and I think for her it is quite a realistic goal to win," he said. "Whereas, I am coming at it from more of a battler's point of view."
He said he was not doing as many kilometres as he would like, simply because of work and looking after their two children, but was doing all his training at a high intensity.
He said to win he would need to have a great race and a couple of the other top contenders to have a bad day.
Trevor Wright wins the Rotorua Marathon in 1984. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post
"I will need one or two of them to have a rough day out there but that can often happen in marathons."
Trevor and Rosemary will be looking after their grandchildren Sam, 6, and Daisy, 3, while mum and dad race next weekend.
A husband-and-wife duo have never won the Rotorua Marathon.
The Rotorua Marathon Saturday, May 2, is the 51st anniversary of the race, and the 50th staging of the event. It was rained off in 1999.
In the family •Trevor Wright - Rotorua Marathon best finish: 1st (1984); Other achievements: first British runner across the finish line at the inaugural London Marathon finishing third (1981), held a world record for the fastest marathon on debut •Rosemary Wright - Rotorua Marathon best finish: 2nd (1984, 1985); Other achievements: Gold medal at 1970 Commonwealth Games representing Scotland in 800m •Jess Ruthe (nee Wright) - Rotorua Marathon best finish: 2nd (2014); Other achievements: Auckland Marathon winner (2009) •Ben Ruthe - Rotorua Marathon best finish: 4th (2009); Other achievements: Four-minute mile runner, Auckland Marathon winner (2008
