Athletics: Papakura girl aiming for top of the world

Kimberley Smith says having fun with your chosen pursuit is the key to longevity. Photo / Getty Images

Kimberley Smith is on the road to next year's London Olympics, having easily bettered the qualifying mark while finishing fifth at the New York marathon. The 29-year-old Papakura-raised Smith, who finished ninth in the 10,000 metres at the Beijing Olympics, answers a few questions from her home in Rhode Island.

Was New York all or nothing for the marathon qualification - did you have other Olympic options?The Olympic marathon is my priority and if I didn't qualify at New York there would have been something seriously wrong ... I would have gone back to the 10k if that had happened and I also have the 5k qualifying time.

Why do you love the marathon?There is a lot more hype than for other distances - millions watched the New York marathon. I wouldn't say I love marathons - the marathon is more of a love-hate business. It is pretty painful at the time. The point about the marathon is that you put so much time and effort into one race and if it doesn't go well, you can't go out and do another one the next week. I kind of like that - it's a tough situation but when you do well there is such a feeling of accomplishment.

How painful is marathon pain?Really, really bad although I haven't hit the wall properly yet. But I've watched other people who have and it looks pretty bad. People don't pace themselves well and go out too fast but I assume that I'm going to hit the wall one day.

How many marathons have you run ?I've started five and finished three. I was ill before one which I shouldn't have run and tore my calf during the Boston marathon. New York is definitely the best I've run so far. I would like to run one more before London but my coach (Ray Treacy) doesn't want me to.

Who is in charge of those situations - what is the relationship with your coach like?

Ray is an Irishman who has coached me for 10 years since my days at Providence College. We have a pretty good relationship - he still coaches at Providence and I'm a volunteer cross country coach there. He has most of the say but now that I'm older I get more input into training.

What are your chances in London?

The marathon will be run over laps and I ran the course for a 10,000 race in 2009 - it's nice to have run it already. The course is pretty flat, very different to New York, and I think that will suit me because I'm not the greatest on the hills. Anything can happen in the marathon. Anyone can win. In New York, no one would have picked who finished first and second and the girl who was third was rated as a strong chance to win.

Did you have a childhood hero?

I didn't care about running that much when I was young ... I thought I was an 800m runner and Toni Hodgkinson would have been my main childhood hero.

What's the one piece of advice you would give to a young athlete?

I guess I would say to have fun with whatever you are doing which is what I did. A lot of girls train really hard and burn themselves out.

Is there one thing you would like to change about your sport?

I don't have any burning issues ... one big debate right now is the IAAF sponsorship rule. We are only allowed one sponsor's name on our singlet whereas other sports such as triathlons and cycling are allowed as many as they like. It is a stupid rule which limits our earning potential.

Your personal life?

I have a long-term partner, Pat Tarpy, who was a good runner although not a professional and he's given up running now. I don't have any kids. One day I would like to live in New Zealand ... the older I get the more I know I want to live there again. But I can't do that now - my career opportunities are so much better here.