Michael Voss claims historic Rotorua marathon three-peat

17th September 2022

Local athlete Michael Voss defied a bout of cramp to create Rotorua Marathon history today and secure an unprecedented hat-trick of men’s titles, clocking a time of 2:29:21.

The 25-year-old of the local Lake City AC produced a dominant display, quickly seizing control of the race and opening up a huge lead on the field.

Approaching 37km the Rotorua-based athlete held a whopping 5km advantage only to suddenly feel a cramp in his left hamstring. Despite having to slow to a walk on several occasions because of the pain, Voss had far too much of an advantage to concede and he crossed the line first to claim a third successive race win and receive the acclaim of the ecstatic home supporters.

An elated Voss said: “To win this race three times in a row is pretty special, I’ll definitely remember it for a long time.

“I went through halfway in around 71 or 72 minutes and I was surprised (at how fast I was going). I wanted to try and hold it all together but in the final 5km I started cramping up and had to walk/run. I tried not to panic too much. I just had to have a little bit of a stretch and slowly build into to it again. Despite what happened, I’m still very happy with the time and the way the race went.

“I know quite a few of the others runners in the marathon and half marathon, so I’m sure we’ll celebrate with a little pub crawl tonight,” added Voss, who says he fully intends to return for a crack at a fourth successive Rotorua Marathon in May next year.

Dion Goodhue of Mt Maunganui claimed second spot in 2:47:06 with Daniel Coates (Owairaka) completing the podium picture in third (2:48:15).

Wellington-based mum-of-three Mel Brandon claimed a decisive victory in the women’s marathon, clinching top spot in 3:00:08.

Brandon, 44, who only took up the sport seven years ago, proved it’s never too late as she claimed the biggest win of her career so far.

A delighted Brandon, who competes for Wellington Scottish, said: “It’s a real honour to win because I don’t consider myself that great a runner, I consider myself a novice because I’ve only been doing running a short time

“I’m grateful to be fit and healthy enough to run such races, although I definitely didn’t get my (time) goal by a long shot. I was probably too ambitious with my expectations given that it is such a tough course to get a PB on.

“I pushed too hard and by the 30km mark I felt a bit spent and it was just a real hard slog coming home.”

Brandon, mum to 15 and 13-year-old daughters and an 11-year-old son, hopes her efforts in Rotorua can act as an inspiration to her three children.

“They are really proud of mum and this will mean it a lot to them,” she adds. “I do strive to be a good role-model and the lesson I want to pass on to the kids is that hard work and effort pays off.”

Courtney Pratt of New Plymouth placed second in 3:02:59 with Billie-Lee Haresnape of Piha snagging a podium spot in third (3:06:09).

Pre-race favourite Mariano Piagentini lived up to the billing to take a comfortable victory in the men’s Red Stag Timber Half Marathon, registering a time of 1:19:13.

The 38-year-old cycling mechanic, who arrived to live in New Zealand in 2019 from his native Argentina, said: “I’m really happy and I feel great. Last year I finished fifth but I struggled with a knee problem, but this year I said, okay, I am going to do my own race and my own pace and fortunately I won.”

James Wharmby (Waiuku) grabbed second spot in 1:23:46 with Will Swales of Hamilton rounding out the podium in 1:26:51.

The women’s half marathon was secured by Emily Burmester (Mt Maunganui) in 1:37:43 with Christy Aish of New Plymouth edging out Darshna Govind (Miramar) by a two-second margin in 1:39:03 to take out second.

Ben Bidois of Hamilton was the first male home in the Go Media 10km in 33:56 with the first woman home Ella Smart (Matamata) in 40:26.

Bronwen Rees-Jones of Cambridge was the quickest female in the First Credit Union 5.5km, recording 22:05. The quickest male was Ashton Guitry (Tokoroa 23:09).

For full results go here.

Photo credit: Aaron Gillions