Dunedin runner Shireen Crumpton competes in the Gold Coast
marathon this month. Photo supplied.
Shireen Crumpton (Hill City) has chosen to travel to
Brazil to compete in the world half-marathon championship.
The Dunedin nurse qualified to compete in the world mountain
running championships in Switzerland in September when she
won the New Zealand title in April.
She also qualified for the world half-marathon in Brazil when
she won the Buller event and came second to Olympian Nina
Rillstone in the Christchurch half-marathon in June.
Her long-term goal is to compete in the marathon at the World
Athletics Championships in Berlin in August next year.
"If I do the mountain race it will give me strength but it
will also slow me down and make me take shorter strides,"
Crumpton said.
Crumpton (37) was encouraged to stay on the road after
winning the women's section of the Gold Coast Marathon two
weeks ago.
Her time of 2hr 38min 16min was the third-fastest of her
career.
It also beat the International Amateur Athletics Federation's
qualifying standard for the world championships by 5min.
This will be the fourth time Crumpton has competed at the
world half-marathon championships.
She finished 29th in Mexico in 2000, sixth in Austria in 2002
and eighth in Italy in 2004.
Her best half-marathon time of 1hr 12min 58sec was run in
Auckland in 2005.
The Gold Coast event was the first marathon run by Crumpton
for two years since she failed to qualify for the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Canberra. There was a record entry of
21,000 runners competing in the Gold Coast marathon,
half-marathon and walk.
This included 6000 in the marathon.
Crumpton has won nine of her 15 marathons, with a best time
of 2hr 37min 3sec when finishing 33rd at the world
championships in Helsinki in 2005, Since coming back to
racing this year, Crumpton has also won the Buller
half-marathon in 1hr 17min, been second to Olympian Nina
Rillstone in the Christchurch half-marathon in 1hr 16min
38sec and won the Edmond Cup steeplechase at Wingatui.
Crumpton will be racing in the Otago cross-country
championships at Waikouaiti today.
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