Robertson twins chase Moscow standard - together

11 July 2013

African-based Kiwi twins, Jake and Zane Robertson, set to clash for the very first time over 5000m on Sunday morning in Belgium have both vowed to secure qualification in that event for next month’s World Championships.

Jake has already won selection for the 10,000m for Moscow after posting a time 27:45.46 in Stanford in April to climb to third on the New Zealand all-time lists and now Zane is hoping to stake his claim to join his brother in the Russian capital when competing at the KBC-Nacht meeting in Heusden.

Zane, 23, missed out on attaining the World Championships B standard by just 1.15 in Stanford in April after running a new personal best 13:21.15 and he believes he is better positioned to attack not only the B standard but also the A standard of 13:15.00 on Sunday.

“In the ten day period leading up to Stanford I didn’t train because of a calf injury and bad cold, but I still finished just one second outside of the (B) standard. I feel now, like, what’s a second?

Jake is also hoping to secure the A standard  over the 5000m distance in an attempt to double at the World Championships and the East African-based duo are not lacking in confidence.

“We both want the qualifying time and both of us are chasing the New Zealand record (of Adrian Blincoe which stands at 13:10.19),” Jake explains. “I feel like both of us can get it in the shape we are in.”

It is also a rare clash between the twins – who last met over the mile in Walnut, California in April last year.  Zane has in the past concentrated on the 1500m/mile and but this season has decided to step up in distance for a serious assault on the 5000m, traditionally more Jake’s domain.

So do the pair relish racing each other or it is something they try to avoid?

“There’s more to the race than me and my brother,” explains Jake. “We are trying to beat everyone. We haven’t raced each other in a 5000m before, so it is going to be a good thing. We would like to work together and hopefully take one or two.”

The twins left their home in Hamilton to start a new life out in East Africa aged just 17 and the duo have totally immersed themselves in the African way of life.

Zane is now based in Ethiopia, has an Ethiopian girlfriend and speaks the local dialect Amharic. Jake lives and trains in Iten, the distance running mecca in Kenya.

The pair, who are coached by Athletics New Zealand’s High Performance Programme distance coach Steve Willis, may boast a rivalry but there is no ill-feeling between the pair and Zane is delighted his twin brother has secured his place for Moscow.

“I was so happy for him, he worked so hard for it,” insists Zane.

Now he hopes to grasp his opportunity in the 5000m.

So why do the pair feel they are in the best form of their lives at the moment?

“One is the factor of age,” says Jake. “As a distance runner, as the years go on, you gain more endurance and we are only going to get better. Most of the best athletes in distance running are 30 years old and we train very much within ourselves, so we are always adding.”

Zane echoes his brother’s thoughts, adding:  “We are still just learning. You can’t expect miracles in just a matter of months, it takes longer than that. The Kenyans say you start running when you are 26, so we still have three years before we reach that age.”