Race Records The Early Order Of The Day At Queenstown Marahon

The stunning weather and tweaks to the course have made it a day for new records in the early events at the Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon, with both the men’s and women’s marks being lowered in the New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Half Marathon.

Daniel Balchin (Christchurch) and Josie Wilcox (Palmerston North) simply ran away from their opposition, Balchin winning the men’s race in 1:07:28 and Wilcox in 1:19:28, in the process setting course record times on a course that has clearly been made quicker with the removal of ‘marathon hill’ over the closing kilometres.

Balchin has gone as low as 65 minutes for the half distance, but described what was for him an ‘easy’ day in perfect conditions.

“It is absolutely beautiful, a cracker of a day. The plan was to sit in and see how I was feeling and then I just went off on my own and ran at my own pace. It was about 3km into the race I made a burst and I just didn’t see them after that.

“I am stoked with the time, I wasn’t expecting to run that quick today. While it is not a PB, it is on par for me, with a few undulations, I am very happy with that time today.”

Wilcox (Palmerston North) similarly looked very fresh in also setting a course record,
“I am feeling really good, I loved that today. It started conservatively until about 3 or 4k and I was finding the pace too slow, so I took off, as soon as we hit the limestone path I went for it. The crowd and the course were awesome, I really love the course. I would love a few more hills in it, I have been doing plenty of cycling lately. I haven’t been running that much so I am really happy.”

Another to set a new mark on the day was Dominic Channon, lowering the 10km men’s race record by exactly one minute to 33:28 while the women’s 10km event was taken out by Karin Schank in 39:02.
The full Air New Zealand Marathon events are just past the midway point at the time of going to press, with the men’s winner expected home at the Queenstown Memorial Recreation Ground at approximately 10:50am this morning, and the women at approximately 11:10am.

A full review of both men’s and women’s elite Air New Zealand Marathons will follow early this afternoon. For access to free to use editorial images, VNR and further information, contact Andrew Dewhurst on the numbers below.

Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon
Results (full results visit www.airnzqueenstownmarathon.co.nz)
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Half Marathon

Men
1 Daniel Balchin, Christchurch, 01:07:28 (race record)
2 James Tunbridge, Australia, 01:10:54
3 Brett Tingay, Christchurch, 01:11:01
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Half Marathon

Women
1 Josie Wilcox, Palmerston North, 01:19:33 (race record)
2 Emma Perron, 01:22:46
3 Fiona Crombie, Christchurch 01:24:11
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty FIRST Half
Runners on the first half of the full marathon course, Millbrook to Millbrook

Men
1 James Parsons, 01:19:18
2 Matt Sumpter, 01:31:12
3 Brent Smith, 01:31:52

Women
1 Tanya Copeland, 01:34:30
2 Lindsay Fraser-Moodie, 01:36:43
10km

Men
1 Dominic Channon, 00:33:28 (race record)
2 Sam Dobson, 00:35:47
3 Aleks Cheifetz, 00:35:55

Women
1 Karin Schank, 00:39:02
2 Sarah Douglas, 00:39:38
3 Bronnie Ormandy 00:40:59
Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon, by the numbers:

Entries
Total 9720
Air New Zealand Full Marathon: 1811 registered
NZ Sotheby’s International Realty Half Marathon and First Half: 5,163 registered
10km Run: 2479 registered

Demographics
Male –37%, Female 63%
Average Age 38 years
Youngest – 5 years
Oldest – 93 years
Location of origin of entrants
New Zealand – 81%
Out of region – 90%

Biggest markets: Canterbury 2393, Otago 2000, Auckland 1674,
1,846 (19%) of entrants are international visitors, including:
Australia – 1218, USA – 152, China - 100
Extra Air New Zealand flights – 3000 extra seats servicing Queenstown

Volunteers
Total Number 520
From community groups, schools and clubs and individuals
$18,000 will be donated to these groups by the event in 2017
$110,000 has been donated to Queenstown Trails Trust by the Marathon over the past three years
$40,000 will be donated this year, with a portion of entry fees plus further voluntary donations going to Queenstown Trails Trust

Economic Impact (estimated)
Estimated 8.5-million-dollar boost to the local economy (based on 2016 figures)
5 nights’ average stay for international visitors
3 nights’ average stay for domestic visitors
3000 extra seats into Queenstown with Air New Zealand

Quirky Numbers
7,000 bananas
1.4km Fencing
204,715 Km’s covered by all athletes running on Saturday
276 Portaloos
146 Rubbish Bins
150 Hours of Security
54 Radios
5,000 Cables Ties
15,214 Litres of water
8,117 Litres of Powerade
85,000 Paper cups

Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon
November 18, 2017
Enter online: www.queenstown-marathon.co.nz
Fourth edition of the event, featuring:
Kids Race (2.2km from Queenstown Gardens to the finish line Rec Ground)
10km SOLD OUT

NZ Sotheby’s International Realty Half Marathon
The new NZ Sotheby’s International Realty First Half (races the first half of the marathon course)
Air New Zealand Marathon.

9720 participants
90% of those entrants from out of Central Otago
41 countries represented
Over 3000 extra seats into Queenstown put on by Air New Zealand