Athletics: Out of the blue into winning slot

By DAVE WORSLEY

Unheralded Craig Burke won the men's Auckland Marathon title in near-perfect conditions yesterday after just four years of competitive running.

The Bucklands Beach runner, who is coached by Barry McGee, finished in 2m 32.05s, 2 1/2 minutes ahead of Gavin Stevens, of Mt Eden, with David Perkins, of Herne Bay, a minute further back.

An ecstatic Burke found it hard to believe he had actually won.

"The conditions were perfect. I didn't expect to win, I was aiming for top 10 ... It was a bit of a shock really," he said.

Burke was a top badminton player before he became bored with the sport and decided in 1998 to get stuck into running.

The winning time was a personal best for the 33-year-old. Now the Lynndale club runner is looking ahead to his future in the sport.

"I'm aiming for faster times now that I can run this course in that time," he said.

For women's marathon winner Zelah Morrall, of Whangarei, the conditions changed her mind about entering again.

"After the rain and everything last year, I wasn't going to enter this year, but this was just great and to win is fantastic," she said.

Morrall completed the race in a time of 2h 53m 14s, nearly 10 minutes ahead of another runner from Northland, Lilac Flay, who was registered as running for Awanui. Anna Webster, of Three Kings, came in two minutes further back.

While the marathon results were fairly clear-cut, some big names ran neck and neck in the men's half-marathon.

With just a kilometre to go, Scott Winton, from the Counties club, grabbed the lead from Craig Kirkwood, of Epsom, who had led from the start.

Winton's time of 1h 06m 14s was a significant win over the undulating course and considering he was consistently in second place for most of the race.

But it was Kirkwood who set the pace, clearing the 10km mark in a blistering time of 30m 30s, at times running at 20km/h.

Jonathan Wyatt, of Karori, finished third after a tough year of competing in marathons, mountain runs and other events. He was content with his placing and to take part for the first time in the race.

In the women's half-marathon, Nyla Carroll, of Papakura, finished in 1h 15m 17s, nearly two minutes ahead of Sportswoman of the Year Melissa Moon, of Wellington, with Melissa Norris, of Epsom, third.