KEY POINTS:
Auckland runner Nina Rillstone broke her own New Zealand half-marathon record in a race in New York today.
Rillstone ran third place with a time of 1:10:35 in the New York City Half-Marathon - eclipsing her record by 14 seconds.
Rillstone, who led the field for a time, was just beaten by two Kenyans in a down-to-the wire race, with winner Hilda Kibet running the second fastest half-marathon ever on American soil in 1:10:32.
The second-place winner was Catherine Ndereba, dubbed "Catherine the Great" for her performance in long-distance running over the past ten years.
The half-marathon was organised by New York Road Runners, whose premier event is the New York City Marathon - in which Rillstone was placed seventh last year.
Rillstone, a marathon runner, was using the race as preparation for the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka next month.
"I didn't get the practice running in heat and humidity today that I was expecting. But I'm really happy to get a national record," Rillstone told the IAAF website.
Rillstone, who has been training at altitude in Boulder, Colorado, will now fly to Darwin in Australia to join the rest of the New Zealand team as they train in preparation for the expected in Osaka.
A former 10,000m runner, the 32-year-old Rillstone ran a New Zealand record for a debut marathon last year with what was the fastest time by a New Zealand woman in twenty years.
Despite only having only run two marathons, she is now regarded as New Zealand's top exponent of the long distance race.
The men's section of the New York half-marathon was won by Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, the double Olympic gold medallist and multiple World record-holder from Ethiopia.
- NZHERALD STAFF
